An important event is coming up in Panama on April 10 & 11, 2105, Summit of the Americas (Cumbre de las Americas), where “the heads of state and government of the Western Hemisphere discuss common policy issues, affirm shared values and commit to concerted actions at the national and regional level to address continuing and new challenges faced in the Americas.” This is the 7th year the summit is being held and the first time Panama will be hosting it.
| Year | # | Dates | Country | City | Host leader |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1994 [3] | 1st | December 9–11 |  United States[4] |
Miami | Bill Clinton |
| 1998 | 2nd | April 18–19 |  Chile[5] |
Santiago | Eduardo Frei Ruiz-Tagle |
| 2001 | 3rd | April 20–22 |  Canada[6] |
Quebec City | Jean Chrétien |
| 2005 | 4th | November 4–5 |  Argentina[7] |
Mar del Plata | Néstor Kirchner |
| 2009 | 5th | April 17–19 |  Trinidad and Tobago[8] |
Port-of-Spain | Patrick Manning |
| 2012 | 6th | April 14–15 |  Colombia[9] |
Cartagena | Juan Manuel Santos Calderón |
| 2015 | 7th | April 10–11 |  Panama[10] |
Panama City | Juan Carlos Varela |
Wikipedia: Summit of the Americas
Extreme security measures are being implemented
The event is being held at the Atlapa Convention Center in Panama City’s San Francisco neighborhood and extreme security measures are being implemented since world leads like Barack Obama will be attending the event. Residents in the surrounding blocks of Atlapa will be required to show a special ID to enter and several major roads will be completely closed from April 9 – 12.
Know which roads will be closed
This summit is going to be hell for drivers in Panama because several of the main roads in the city are going to be shut down. Here’s what you need to know:
– April 9 from 12pm – April 12 at 6pm: Partial closing of Corredor Sur, Cinta Costera, Avenida Balboa and Vía Interamericana from Panamá Pacifico to Panamá.
– April 9 from 12am – April 12 at 9pm: Streets with access to vía Israel will be closed, from Calle 68 Este, to vía Cincuentenario.
– April 10 from 6am – 7pm: Calle 50 will totally be closed, the section between Federico Boyd and Calle 56 Este.
– April 10 from 4pm – April 11 at 12am: Vía Cincuentenario will totally be closed, from the entrance to Chanis until Atlapa.
Days off work
In order to help alleviate the traffic that would normally ensue Panama City into chaos with these road closings, the government announced that:
April 10 & 11: Business in the private sectors of the Panama and San Miguelito districts will be off work.
April 9 – 11: Public offices will be off work from April 9 at noon to April 11.
April 9 & 10: All schools will be closed.
The only businesses that will be open during these days are hospitals, restaurants & bars, airports, supermarkets, and malls.
For anyone living in the affected areas with road closings this would be a great weekend to use the days off work to get out of the city and come back once roads reopen.
Experience Panama
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