people
Interview
THE
By Melissa Y. Herrera
I
t is a rare and wonderful opportunity to meet
a person who has helped shape the course of
their country, but I was privileged to do just
that when I interviewed Ambassador Juan B.
Sosa of Panama.
I am sure than many are unaware of Ambassador Sosa’s
courage and conviction during the late 1980s when the
late President of Panama Eric Delvalle was ousted and
General Manuel Noriega took over Panama. At that
time Ambassador Sosa was in the United States and stood
firm and rebelled against the dictatorial regime receiving
the support of the United States in an effort to restore
democracy in Panama. General Noriega was eventually
ousted by U.S. military forces in December 1989.
You can learn more about the event in his appropriately
named book, In Defiance: A Battle Against Panama’s Dictator General Noriega Fought from Panama’s Embassy. This
is a must read for people interested in political science,
public administration, diplomacy and history.
Melissa: Tell us about your background and how
you became Consul General of Panama.
Ambassador Sosa: I have worked for nearly 50 years
in the private sector. I am a graduate of the University of
Oklahoma where I received a BBA and joined Colgate
Palmolive Company in Panama and spent 5 years as an
international executive and then opened my own marketing services company in Panama which I ran for the
next 20 years. In 1985 I was appointed as Chairman of
the Board of Air Panama, then the national airline, and in
1987 I became Ambassador of Panama to the US and a
34 iF Magazine | NOVEMBER 2016
member of the Board of the Panama Canal Commission.
After serving as Ambassador of Panama, I remained in the
US and started the US – Panama Business Council. For
the last 22 years I have been promoting Panama. In October 2014 I was appointed Consul General of Panama in
Houston. I have been living in Houston since 2007 and
have been building good relations between Panama and
the Houston Region after doing so at the national level
for the previous twenty years.
President Juan Carlos Varela appointed me as Consul
General in 2014. As Consul I continue to promote Panama in an official capacity. Thirty-eight percent of the
ships that come to the Port of Houston transit through
the Panama Canal. Every day 10 ships that transit the
Panama Canal come to Texas ports including Sabine Pass,
Port Freeport, Corpus Christi, Texas City, Galveston and
of course the Port of Houston which is the largest port.
The expansion of the Panama Canal opens new opportunities for Texas and Houston. The Port of Houston is
upgrading its facilities as well as other ports in the Texas
coast and Port Freeport, together with the counties of
Brazoria, Fort Bend and Waller are working to build a
trade corridor to connect to Dallas/Fort and the central
region of the US which will become more accessible as a
result of the expansion of the Panama Canal.
Melissa: How is Panama positioning itself to do
more business as a result of the expansion of the
canal and facilitating opportunities for business people
who want to do business with Panama?
Ambassador Sosa: First of all Panama has always
been an open country as far as trade is concerned. It