Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
In 1966, Ambassador, I visited your country, coming out of a freighter at the south end of the canal, very high on the water. It was a very long way down Jacob's ladder to get to the pilot's boat. I have a great memory of your country.
From our briefing note, the Panamanian Centre is a distributor for funds that offer international trade credits to Latin America, and the Canadian Export Development Corporation makes those funds available. The whole issue—you are here with the Colombian ambassador—relates to tying trade to stability in that part of Latin America and South America. Venezuela is indicating some very difficult times.
What role does Panama play and what role can Canada play, through closer trade relationships, in contributing to the stability we would like to see in this particular area? Has the Panamanian government given any instructions through its diplomatic corps to not only use the Organization of American States as a trade facilitator, an investor, distributor, but to invest in a strategic way that would achieve human rights and stability in the region?