{"id":4929,"date":"2022-09-28T06:43:34","date_gmt":"2022-09-28T04:43:34","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.thevisitorpanama.info\/eng\/?p=4929"},"modified":"2022-09-28T06:50:22","modified_gmt":"2022-09-28T04:50:22","slug":"castalia-pascual-we-need-to-believe-in-what-we-have-live-each-tradition-and-culture-365-days-a-year-in-each-town-and-region-of-panama","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.thevisitorpanama.info\/eng\/2022\/09\/28\/castalia-pascual-we-need-to-believe-in-what-we-have-live-each-tradition-and-culture-365-days-a-year-in-each-town-and-region-of-panama\/","title":{"rendered":"Castalia Pascual: “We need to believe in what we have, live each tradition and culture 365 days a year in each town and region of Panama”"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Our special guest is the most recognized journalist\nthroughout Panama, as well as the producer of the daily and noon newscast of\nthe TVN television channel. The professionalism and charisma with which she has\ncarried out important interviews with national and international personalities\nhave earned her multiple accolades. The integrity with which she has handled\ncommunication throughout her career has made her worthy of the “Influence\non National Reality” award given by the regional strategic communication company\nCCK Central America to personalities who generate the most credibility in the\npopulation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
El Cop\u00e9, Distrito de La Pintada<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

For The Visitor – El Visitante, it is a privilege to\nhave Castalia Pascual in an exclusive interview, a communication professional\nwith the reach and credibility of few in our country, and who reserved time for\nus in her busy schedule to talk about managing communication at all levels as\nwell as tourism and the future challenges facing our country.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Toro Bravo, Cerro Guacamaya <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Within your professional analysis, what is the\nperception of people around Panama, is the required communication being\ndeveloped?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe perception of Panamanians is that we are a great\ncountry, with many defects and many things to fix. I feel that what\ncharacterizes us historically is that we have been able to come out of our\nworst conflicts and situations as terrible as the post-invasion after a\nmilitary dictatorship, and we have been able to redesign our country towards where\nwe want to go. But obviously in this short democracy in which we have given the\nconfidence to restructure this country to different people who have come with\nthe interest of making changes, and mistakes have been made. And the perception\nthat there is at this moment is that the great country that we have is being\nlost, it is getting out of hand and that the time to fix it is shortening, that\nin my opinion is the perception that the Panamanian has. \u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As a\ncommunicator with great experience and credibility like few others in Panama,\nhow do you see the image of Panama abroad and if it goes with our social and\neconomic reality?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cInternationally, when people\nmention Panama, they directly describe the Panama Canal, Roberto Duran, Mariano\nRivera and the Panama Papers. The image of Panama has been badly hit in recent\nyears and as a Panamanian State we have not been able to protect that image. At\nthat moment those who had to do it when all these scandals have hit us because\nthey did not do it the right way. And when I say that we have not done it the\nright way, I am talking about the government and the media. In the face of a\nscandal like the Panama Papers at the time, the Government needed to go out and\ndefend Panama’s position, it lacked more willingness to show that Panama was\ntaking the right steps. That it was necessary to improve, that it was necessary\nto change the rules but the steps were already being taken, and In the end, I\nthink we have the consequences at this time of the image that the Panama Papers\ncaused us.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Cinta Costera <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

We have a great opportunity to clear our name. This is\na country of honest people, of honest businessmen, that there are people\nwilling to stick to the rules that exist and demand to have authorities that do\napply the laws that exist. Because if we are involved in the problems that we\nare involved in with the image we have, it is simply because there are those\nwho have not enforced the laws that exist in Panama to enforce them.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

How do you\nsee the communication work by the media to comprehensively communicate what is\nhappening in Panama, whether it is good or bad? What would you like to suggest\nto improve it since sometimes it seems that only the bad is shown?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe are in an era where people\nno longer consume what traditional media gives them. Studies indicate that\npeople look for what is good and what they like, that is the phenomenon that\nhas generated social networks and that has forced traditional media such as\ntelevision channels, for example, to have to take make changes. An example: the\npandemic taught us a great lesson and I describe the pandemic as the silent\nvirus that was not only introduced and caused health issues, but was also a\nsilent virus that was going to change our “chip”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

People in the pandemic began to look for useful\ninformation, they were no longer interested in corruption cases, political\nscandals, or how much drugs was seized in the country and other information\nthat is sometimes so toxic that it fills front pages and news content. People\nwere looking for scientific information, on how to be an entrepreneur, how to\nregain hope to get ahead and that forced us to migrate. For example, in the\nnews program that I direct we have called that content that is now mandatory:\n“Useful Information for your Life”. We have given value to that\ninformation but we have gone little by little, the media throughout these\nrecent years have learned that talking about the environment, tourism,\ncorporate social responsibility, science and health is also news that people\nenjoy. I can tell you that we have changed and the pandemic forced us to change\nand put information on our agenda that people if don’t find it in the\ntraditional media (television, radio and press), they will look for it in what\ntoday is a highly competitive social network.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Casco Antiguo <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Communicating\nPanama to our people is the basic task to achieve a sense of belonging, pride\nin what is ours and desire to move forward. Do you feel that this work is being\ndone? What could you suggest us to achieve it?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cRight now I think there isn’t\na festival in the country that isn’t promoted. Panamanians and the media are\nwatching from Sombrero Pintao Festival that is celebrated in La Pintada, to las\nMil Polleras Parade, the Carnivals in La Tablas and Penonome, the new festivals\nthat have appeared, the Coffee circuit. I insist, the pandemic did its job,\nbecause since we couldn’t go out we began to discover what we had, a Panamanian\ntown forced into confinement began to do local tourism and began to discover\nplaces, sites, towns, traditions that they did not know before. We must take\nadvantage of this moment because we must find the mechanisms to promote it, to\nshow beyond la Pollera that we traditionally show the world, beyond the Panama\nCanal, we must find a strategy, and hopefully those who govern us understand\nthe importance of providing the Tourism Authority  and the Ministry of Culture, with all the\nbudget and resources that are required to be able to take advantage of the richness\nthat we have.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Cinta Costera <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

What do you suggest can be done so that organic\nand honest communication can give truth to any advertising campaign full of\nmusic, beautiful places and smiling models.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe have to achieve as a country, that we believe in\nwhat we are, a country with great tourist offers, a country that has it all.\nFirst we have to work on the sense of belonging, Panama does not have a sense\nof belonging and we have to aim to work from local governments that identify\ntheir tourism areas from education, reinforce already existing plans in tourism\neducation. Cooperativism must be remembered to underpin. Just as we love each\nFestival and each fair and we organize ourselves so that our town shines, we\nhave to embrace that for the rest of the year, and that allows you to extend\nthat community project that you have. If we do not appreciate what we have, it\nwill be of no use, what is the use of having a great De Cameron, for example, at\nRio Hato if we do not prepare the people in this town to take advantage of the\nnumber of tourists that were going to arrive at the time. What’s the use of\nhaving a great carnival in Las Tablas if you don’t project those who go to that\ncarnival place, also other offers in the surrounding towns. What is the use of\nhaving those beautiful coasts in Colon if the people themselves do not have a\nsense of belonging and do not have the capacity or the orientation to organize\nthemselves and offer them, from some cabins or their own home. We need to\nbelieve in what we have, prepare ourselves to project and show what we have.\nLive each tradition and culture 365 days a year in each town and region of\nPanama.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
El Valle de Anton<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Given the latest events that have happened in our\ncountry, do you feel that you have communicated objectively? How can the media\nimprove communication before this type of event to help achieve a better\nunderstanding between all parties?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWhat we have experienced in the last two months with\nthe crisis that was experienced has been unique in the country’s history, I am\nnot saying it, experts on the subject have said it. And I think that the\ncommunication was very responsible, because all of us in charge of\ncommunicating to the country what was happening were able to understand the\nmagnitude of what was going on and knew how a timely communication could either\nfan the flame of what was happening or appease them and reach to the\nunderstandings that fortunately we have reached.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For example, what happened in Veraguas, when we saw\nthat the situation was getting out of hand there were two things, we as the\nresponsible media outlet knew that the rating numbers were going to skyrocket\nif we maintained a sustained broadcast of what was happening there, with burned\nPolice patrols and everything else. And it is not censorship, it is\nresponsibility, instead we looked for the spokespersons to make the call for\npeace, to listen, to sit down and dialogue. It was quite a delicate job and I\nthink the media played a decisive role in preventing this from happening any\nfurther. In this crisis we had to learn to find a balance and find that\nmidpoint until we finally managed to reduce the protests. The objective beyond\ncommunicating was to seek peace, and it was not a question of a medium, it was\na question of a country that said \u201cdamn\u201d this is not going in the right\ndirection. We are a country of peace, we may have a thousand defects, as a\ncountry and as a society we have been able to make thousands of mistakes, but\nwe are a country of peace.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

How would you like to see Panama before the eyes\nof a tourist and a national?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cFrom a tourist \u2026 in love with a country I have always\nwanted to return to or, in the best of cases, the one he came to and wants to\nstay and live. A country that offers you the quality of its people, the joy of\nits folklore, the simplicity of its peoples and the courage of its people. And\nthat Panamanians see Panama as the best country that God could have chosen for\nthem to be born, proud of what we were, what we are and what we are going to\nbecome. I would like to see a Panamanian proud of who we are and determined to\nlove his country by making the changes that we all have to make from the place\nwhere we have to do our work.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Our special guest is the most recognized journalist throughout Panama, as well as the producer of the daily and noon newscast of the TVN television channel. The professionalism and charisma with which she has carried out important interviews with national and international personalities have earned her multiple accolades. The integrity with which she has handled […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":4930,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thevisitorpanama.info\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4929"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thevisitorpanama.info\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thevisitorpanama.info\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thevisitorpanama.info\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thevisitorpanama.info\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4929"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.thevisitorpanama.info\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4929\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4937,"href":"https:\/\/www.thevisitorpanama.info\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4929\/revisions\/4937"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thevisitorpanama.info\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/4930"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thevisitorpanama.info\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4929"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thevisitorpanama.info\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4929"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thevisitorpanama.info\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4929"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}