Know as diablos rojos, or red devils, the buses that go through the streets of Panama City are a meta-institutional phenomenon instigated by drivers and owners who have gradually taken control of public transport due to a lack of official options.
Rarely checked over, dangerous and ramshackle, many of these buses have their own highly individual aesthetic. Painted with pictures as disparate as idyllic snowy or autumnal landscapes from somewhere in Europe, Hollywood actors, saints, sportsmen and women, politicians, and emblems with flowers and arabesques. This practice has not just given rise to a new breed of artist responsible for expressing the personality, tastes and beliefs of the vehicle’s owner, but an entire alternative mercantile and labour network.
Óscar Melgar, whose paintings adorn many buses in the capital, began working at the age of 14 in the workshop of Andrés Salazar, one of the “fathers” of bus painting. Jesús Javier Jaime, another painter much sought after by bus owners, graduated in automotive mechanics and graphic design, among other disciplines, but prefers to devote himself full-time to buses which he began painting in 1989.
In 2006, a faulty connection in the engine of a diablo rojo caused a fire in which some 20 adults and children burned to death. In view of the panic and public consternation, the government has promised to take severe measures in order to regulate transport and look for alternative solutions. In other words, the days of the diablo rojo are numbered, and their disappearance will put an end to a genuine popular display which has marked the cityscape for decades, and withstood all official controls. [Alberto Gualde, Adrienne Samos]