By Kevin McCauley
Panama has signed well-connected Mehlman Vogel Castagnetti to a $300K pact for government affairs work for Congressional approval of a free trade agreement with the U.S.
Pending FTAs with Panama, Colombia and South Korea have stalled over the issue of financial support for American workers who lose their jobs due to foreign competition.
MVC is the firm of Bruce Mehlman, former assistant secretary for commerce for technology policy during the Bush II White House; Alex Vogel, chief of staff to former Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist, and David Castagnetti, ex-aide to Sen. Max Baucus.
The one-year contract went into effect May 16. It requires MVC to submit a monthly report of “deliverables” to Panama. The client will review each deliverable before paying the $25K monthly retainer.
Expenses for “large volume or large scale entertainment” must be okayed in advance by Panama, according to its contract with MVC.
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