Panama's President Varela sits down for a FP interview

Panamanian President Juan Carlos Varela sits down for an interview with Foreign Policy. In it, he answers questions on global (airstrikes against ISIS), regional (immigration, drug trafficking) and national (corruption, organized crime, goals) politics.

FP: How are you going to change Panama?

JCV: My main challenge is to change politics from a business to a service. I want to make sure politics and public life is all about serving the people.

FP: How do you expect to do that?

JCV: By appointing cabinet members and a government that is committed to transparency and honesty. [I want] a government that focuses all of its effort on not worrying about elections but worrying about the problems that affect people every day.

Today we have 65 percent of Panamanian kids graduating from high school. I want to make that 100 percent. So you need to build more schools and to give scholarships to kids that are living in poverty to achieve that goal. 30 to 40 percent of Panamanian homes don't have basic sanitation.

FP: You spoke about that during your campaign.

JCV: Drinking water and sewage -- basic sanitation. I want to accomplish the goal of getting that to 100 percent. We need to impact 300,000 homes. I hope I can get it to 85 or 90 percent in my five-year term.

I wouldn't read too much into a single interview but I did come away impressed.