Not Everything Has To Be An Emergency; Venezuela Frees Political Prisoners; New Minimum Wage Rates Take Effect January 16; Digital Payments Grow but Face Adoption Barriers.

Friday, January 9, 2026. Not Everything Has To Be An Emergency One of the goals I set for myself, both as part of a sincere effort to be a better person and to use my time more wisely, was to stop automatically saying “yes” to last-minute “I need it right now” requests. So far, I’ve already failed twice, which is frustrating precisely because I know better. The most recent example came via a WhatsApp message from someone I’ve known for years, asking whether I could arrange security coverage in Colombia the following day. Coordinating security anywhere in Latin America is something I can do efficiently, but this request arrived at 11:38 p.m. for a 1:00 p.m. deployment the next day and it was incomplete. They didn’t even know which city they would be in!! Despite this, I made the mistake of moving forward. I had my office prepare a quote, coordinate vehicles, and pull in team members. In the end, it was a complete waste of time. By the stated deadline, we had delivered everything initially requested, only to be met with a new wave of demands: additional references, agent profiles, licenses, and, on top of that, a request for a discount on an already negotiated daily rate. When we were unable to meet this expanded list of requirements within what the client subjectively considered a “timely manner,” the job was ultimately awarded to someone else. This situation closely mirrors principles outlined in The One Minute Manager, which addresses how leaders should handle recurring last-minute demands. The book emphasizes that these situations are rarely true emergencies; more often, they are the result of unclear expectations and uncorrected behavior. Its guidance is to address the issue immediately, focus on the behavior rather than the individual, and reaffirm the professional relationship. When expectations, timelines, and consequences are made explicit, the cycle of last-minute requests tends to diminish. That said, going forward, I am putting my foot down. At a minimum, for the rest of this year, I will be holding firm to my standards, respecting my own time, and no longer allowing urgency, especially poorly defined urgency, to dictate my decisions. Brett Mikkelson Director, B.M. Investigations, Inc. – Private Investigations in Panama TOP NEWS and TIDBITS: Venezuela Frees a “Significant Number” of Political Prisoners, Including Foreign Nationals A “significant number” of detainees held for political reasons, including foreign nationals, were released in Venezuela, the head of Parliament announced on Thursday, without providing further details. These are the first releases under the interim administration of Delcy Rodríguez, who assumed office on a temporary basis following a U.S. military operation on January 3 in which the ousted president, Nicolás Maduro, and his wife, Cilia Flores, were captured. Both are currently in New York, where they are facing justice on multiple charges, including drug trafficking. “For the sake of peaceful coexistence, the Bolivarian government, together with state institutions, has decided to release a significant number of Venezuelan and foreign individuals,” said the head of the National Assembly, Jorge Rodríguez. “These release processes are taking place as of this very moment,” he stated in remarks to the press at the Legislative Palace, without specifying how many people will be freed. The parliamentary leader thanked former Spanish Prime Minister José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero, Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, and Qatar, “who promptly responded to the call” of the interim president, he noted. “It is a unilateral gesture by the Bolivarian government,” Rodríguez said. The NGO Foro Penal reports that there are 806 political prisoners in Venezuela, 175 of them members of the military. READ ORIGINAL ARTICLE HERE AMP Clarifies That “Shadow Fleet” Vessels Were No Longer Registered in Panama The Panama Maritime Authority (AMP) clarified on Thursday that the oil tankers Bella 1 and M Sophia, recently intercepted by the United States Coast Guard, were no longer part of the Panama Ship Registry at the time of the incidents. According to the official statement, the vessel Bella 1 ceased to be registered under the Panamanian flag on October 7, 2024, while the vessel M Sophia was deregistered on January 23, 2025. The AMP reported that the oil tankers Bella 1 and M Sophia have been linked to the so-called “shadow fleet.” The clarification follows a statement from the White House indicating that both vessels were allegedly connected to the so-called “shadow fleet,” purportedly used by the regime of Nicolás Maduro to evade international sanctions. The AMP reiterated that Panama maintains strict controls over its maritime registry and that the vessels in question were not operating under the Panamanian flag at the time they were intercepted by U.S. authorities. The Panama Ship Registry is one of the largest in the world and, in recent years, has strengthened its oversight and vessel cancellation mechanisms for ships that fail to comply with international standards, as part of its commitment to transparency and maritime security. READ ORIGINAL ARTICLE HERE Extension of Line 1 Has Increased Its Cost by Nearly $100 Million The Office of the Comptroller General of the Republic approved a fourth addendum to the contract for the extension of Line 1 from San Isidro to Villa Zaíta, in the amount of thirty-five million seventeen thousand six hundred eighty dollars and fifteen cents ($35,017,680.15). According to the register of approvals published on the Comptroller’s Office website, this is the fourth addendum to Contract No. MPSA-04-2020 for design engineering services, construction of civil works, auxiliary line installations and stations, and interfaces with the integrated railway system for the extension of Line 1. What is noteworthy about this approval is that the addendum does not appear on the Panamá Compra portal. It is known that on November 18, 2025, the Cabinet Council authorized Metro de Panamá, S.A. to directly contract the Japanese and French companies Nippon Koei Lac, Inc., Systra, and Nippon Koei Co., Ltd. to manage the final works remaining on the line extension, which has been operational since April 2024. Through direct contracting, the aforementioned companies will oversee project management for 22 months,