Panama: Graffiti on wheels
鈥� A local, slice-of-life story from a Monitor correspondent.
PANAMA CITY 鈥� Liriola Miranda, a college statistics professor, steps aboard Mr. Chiriqui, an old school bus blazing with splashes of red and green that give homage to the owner鈥檚 home province, Chiriqui, in Panama.
鈥淭he buses are an expression of identity,鈥� she says of Panama City鈥檚 main transport system 鈥� a fleet of US hand-me-downs known affectionately in Panama as 鈥渞ed devils,鈥� both for their hues and their hastiness as they fly down the capital鈥檚 roads, honking in search of passengers.
Sometimes the colorful expressions are patriotic, other times it鈥檚 something entirely different, Ms. Miranda explains, shaking her head as another 鈥渞ed devil鈥� passes by, decorated with images of bikini-clad women in both back windows.
The 鈥渞ed devils,鈥� painted down to the hubcaps, have turned Panama City鈥檚 streets into a whirl of bright reds and oranges and blues. Some are emblazoned with superheroes and saints, pictures of Colombian singer Shakira, or epic scenes of warriors fighting off lions.
Bus d茅cor is a mixture of romanticism and manliness. Many are named after the owner鈥檚 girlfriend or wife 鈥� but they are also painted with macho slogans that shout 鈥渇orce,鈥� 鈥減ower,鈥� and 鈥渢hunder鈥� or instructions like 鈥淚f you don鈥檛 know the rules, I鈥檒l teach them to you.鈥�
But now the transport system, which is both ridiculed as anachronistic and celebrated (like the privately owned taxis called 鈥渢ap-taps鈥� that crowd Haiti鈥檚 capital, Port-au-Prince) as a form of public urban art, faces an uncertain fate.
The winner in Panama鈥檚 presidential election early in May, supermarket tycoon and right-leaning Ricardo Martinelli, made modernizing the public transportation system a main campaign pledge 鈥� calling for a Panama City subway to alleviate the traffic jams that have become chronic throughout the capital.
Carlos Diaz, a bus driver for 18 years, says he supports a new fleet of buses. 鈥淟et the new ones come,鈥� says Mr. Diaz, behind the wheel of Mr. Chiriqui, his friend鈥檚 bus. 鈥淲e鈥檒l paint the new ones!鈥� he says, smiling, before closing his doors and driving off.
For Miranda, it鈥檚 a mixed bag. 鈥淥n one hand it is primitive. Panama is a city with money, and we deserve a good public transportation system,鈥� she says, adding that her cellphone was stolen from her on her commute back from work recently.
Transportation consistently ranked as one of voters鈥� top concerns, and helped knock out the incumbent party. On the other hand, a new fleet will replace one of the last remaining idiosyncrasies of Panama City 鈥� not unlike the way a chain store drives out the local mom-and-pop shop.
鈥淭here is nowhere else in the world you can find these [buses],鈥� says Miranda wistfully, but then perks up. 鈥淲hen they get rid of them, I鈥檒l try to buy one as a souvenir,鈥� she says. Or better yet, she brainstorms later, she can transport one to her home province and start a mini-tourist operation. 鈥淭hat way their memory will live on.鈥�
