Politics
Kevin Cabrera touts economic, security relationship with Panama in San Miguelito visit
U.S. Ambassador to Panama Kevin Cabrera visited Central American businesses using American supplies, with the former Miami-Dade County Commissioner stressing the value of a partnership between the U.S. and Panama, both economically and in fighting international crime.
“I was proud to spend the day in San Miguelito, meeting the kind and hardworking people who are shaping their community’s future,” Cabrera said in a statement.
“From education and public safety to clean city initiatives, the United States is committed to being a strong partner. President (Donald) Trump’s vision is clear: deeper cooperation between our nations leads to shared prosperity — and visits like this remind us what’s possible when we work together.”
The work included visiting Lago de Los Andes to meet with business leaders at ReGreen, a Florida-based waste collection company doing business in Panama and local government leaders for San Miguelito. Cabrera said the officials discussed matters of sustainability and trade.
“Wrapped up day in San Miguelito with a briefing on waste management at El Lago with municipal councilors and ReGreen — a Florida-based U.S. leader in residue collection and disposal. Exploring expert solutions for a cleaner future,” Cabrera posted on X.
Cabrera also helped deliver backpacks for young athletes at the Los Andes Sports Complex with leaders from the Padua Academy and with Lucho Duke, a member of Panama’s National Assembly.
“We seek new alliances to continue improving this space and strengthen sports development in San Miguelito,” Duke posted about the meeting with Cabrera. “Every step we take together brings more opportunities closer to our young people.”
Cabrera also met with figures at Bonlac, a Panama dairy processor that uses $6.5 million in U.S. ingredients, including powdered milk and butter cream.
The U.S. Ambassador was also welcomed to Cristo Redentor Parish by Father Juan Sandoval, where the two toured the grounds and visited the famous Christ The Redeemer sculpture donated to the Panama church by the Archdiocese of Chicago in 1970.
“The parish stands as a symbol of the enduring cultural and spiritual ties between the United States and Panama,” read a release from the U.S. Embassy to Panama.
Cabrera also spoke to English language students studying at the Casa Cultural de las 600. They are attending programs offered by the Gabriel Lewis Galindo Foundation and supported by the U.S. Embassy.
Mills was a day-one Byron Donalds backer in the gubernatorial race.
A former House Speaker and current candidate for Governor is leading the charge for Republicans as scandal swirls around a Congressman.
Saying the “evidence is mounting” against Rep. Cory Mills, Paul Renner says other candidates for Governor should “stand up and be counted” and join him in the call for Mills to leave Congress.
Renner made the call earlier this week.
But on Friday, the Palm Coast Republican doubled down.
He spotlighted fresh reporting from Roger Sollenberger alleging that Mills’ company “appears to have illegally exported weapons while he serves in Congress, including to Ukraine,” that Mills failed to disclose conflicts of interest, “tried to fistfight other Republican members of Congress, and lied about his party stature to bully other GOP candidates out of primaries that an alleged romantic interest was running in,” and lied about his conversion to Islam.
The House Ethics Committee is already probing Mills, a New Smyrna Beach Republican, over allegations of profiting from federal defense contracts while in Congress. More recently, the Committee expanded its work to review allegations that he assaulted one ex-girlfriend and threatened to share intimate photos of another.
Other candidates have been more reticent in addressing the issue, including Rep. Byron Donalds.
“When any other members have been involved and stuff like this, my advice is the same,” said Donalds, a Naples Republican. “They need to actually spend a lot more time in the district and take stock of what’s going on at home, and make that decision with their voters.”
The response came less than a year after Mills, a New Smyrna Beach Republican, spoke at the launch of Donalds’ gubernatorial campaign.
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Staff writer Jacob Ogles contributed reporting.
The cold war between Florida’s Governor and his predecessor is nearly seven years old and tensions show no signs of thawing.
On Friday, Sen. Rick Scott weighed in on Florida Politics’ reporting on the Agency for Health Care Administration’s apparent repayment of $10 million of Medicaid money from a settlement last year, which allegedly had been diverted to the Hope Florida Foundation, summarily filtered through non-profits through political committees, and spent on political purposes.
“I appreciate the efforts by the Florida legislature to hold Hope Florida accountable. Millions in tax dollars for poor kids have no business funding political ads. If any money was misspent, then it should be paid back by the entities responsible, not the taxpayers,” Scott posted to X.
While AHCA Deputy Chief of Staff Mallory McManus says that is an “incorrect” interpretation, she did not respond to a follow-up question asking for further detail this week.
The $10 million under scrutiny was part of a $67 million settlement from state Medicaid contractor Centene, which DeSantis said was “a cherry on top” in the settlement, arguing it wasn’t truly from Medicaid money.
But in terms of the Scott-DeSantis contretemps, it’s the latest example of tensions that seemed to start even before DeSantis was sworn in when Scott left the inauguration of his successor, and which continue in the race to succeed DeSantis, with Scott enthusiastic about current front runner Byron Donalds.
Earlier this year, Scott criticized DeSantis’ call to repeal so-called vaccine mandates for school kids, saying parents could already opt out according to state law.
While running for re-election to the Senate in 2024, Scott critiqued the Heartbeat Protection Act, a law signed by DeSantis that banned abortion after the sixth week of pregnancy with some exceptions, saying the 15 week ban was “where the state’s at.”
In 2023 after Scott endorsed Donald Trump for President while DeSantis was still a candidate, DeSantis said it was an attempt to “short circuit” the voters.
That same year amid DeSantis’ conflict over parental rights legislation with The Walt Disney Co., Scott said it was important for Governors to “work with” major companies in their states.
The critiques went both ways.
When running for office, DeSantis distanced himself from Scott amid controversy about the Senator’s blind trust for his assets as Governor.
“I basically made decisions to serve in uniform, as a prosecutor, and in Congress to my financial detriment,” DeSantis said in October 2018. “I’m not entering (office) with a big trust fund or anything like that, so I’m not going to be entering office with those issues.”
In 2020, when the state’s creaky unemployment website couldn’t handle the surge of applicants for reemployment assistance as the pandemic shut down businesses, DeSantis likened it to a “jalopy in the Daytona 500” and Scott urged him to “quit blaming others” for the website his administration inherited.
The chill between the former and current Governors didn’t abate in time for 2022’s hurricane season, when Scott said DeSantis didn’t talk to him after the fearsome Hurricane Ian ravaged the state.
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