Millionaire leaves cash to Panama children; some relatives not happy

The New York Times reports this morning that Pennsylvania millionaire Wilson C. Lucom, who left a large but undisclosed sum of money to a children's foundation he set up in Panama.

"Mr. Lucom, a native of rural Pennsylvania who spent much of his life in Palm Beach, Fla., surprised everyone in his will, which was revealed upon his death two years ago at the age of 88. After doling out relatively small portions of his tens of millions to survivors, he left the rest to a foundation he had dreamed up in secrecy to aid the poor children of Panama, where he spent the final years of his life."

But the dead man's desires are not proving popular with everyone and have set off what the NYT describes as a "vicious legal battle."

"“This is all about greed,” said Héctor Ávila, an advocate for poor children in Panama who organized a demonstration of young people in May outside the court calling for Mr. Lucom’s gift to be honored. Within a week of the protest, Mr. Ávila survived a shooting. No link to the Lucom case has been established."

Read on...

-- Deborah Bonello in Mexico City

Panama City sees the flip side of building bonanza

Spurred by foreign investment and a real estate boom, Panama City is becoming the Sao Paulo of Central America, reports The Times' Chris Kraul in this story.

"Home buyers and investors are flocking here from Venezuela, Colombia, Ecuador, Europe and the United States," Kraul writes.

"Its cosmopolitan ambience has a renegade element: Panama has long been and still is a staging ground for illegal arms going south to Colombian armed groups and for drugs traveling north to U.S. consumers."

" ... Panama's leaders insist their country is on a trajectory toward First World status and respectability."

"But the rapid growth has exposed the country's infrastructure as woefully inadequate for its good fortune. Monumental traffic snarls, shortages of housing, electricity and water shortfalls and ugly land-use spats are the flip side of the bonanza."

-- Reed Johnson in Mexico City

Photo: Modern Panama City rises across the bay from Casco Antiguo, the historic quarter. A building boom is transforming the capital's skyline. Credit: Los Angeles Times