Could He Really Do This? Martinelli

[Hil]

Will he return to Panama? Personally, I don't think so.

Hil Jenkins

[Joanne]

Now that would be the icing on the cake.  Keeping fingers crossed. lol

[Louise Andrew]

Saturday's La Prensa had a reader poll with this exact question.  80% of respondents felt he would not. 

There was also a good political cartoon aimed at him.

Not as entertaining as this photo, however!

[The Zapadora]

Last night's local Panama News reported that Martinelli's jet had landed in Bologna, Italy.

[Lee Zeltzer]

I am inserting this 2010 interview of Ex President Martinelli with no fanfare, but listen to his pitch.

[Keith Woolford]

Lee, I remember watching the Inauguration back in 2009, when the new President admitted that he may not do everything with finesse and apologized in advance if he broke protocols in his efforts to change the way things were done in government. The part of his speech about changing political corruption is, in retrospect, a big load of crap. It is perfectly placed at the beginning of the second segment in this video. http://youtu.be/MIOCDHOP0RI

[Alan Robert Ross]

Perhaps Gerald Ford will pardon him.

[Stephane d'Ursel]

Hi Roger,

You are right indeed, that is called the Poutine's way...

Now, when i read the Prensa this morning, i could not helping to think about the reaction of the former presidents, discovering that in fine they were not covered by the parlacen immunity...How lucky they were that everyone thought it was the case...lol

But that is a good thing for the future...because this detail matters a lot.  Because if from now on, the president knows that he will not be protected by the parlacen, the whole system will have to adapt itself...for the better.

Oh, and don't worry about the 4.500 each Panamiens owes, it is peanuts compared to what Americans or Europeans do own

[Roger Bellido]

Richard

How could a politician make a lot of money?  Well,  making billionaire projects in order to get kickbacks and "commissions".  Also giving most of those tenders and bids to new companies created by friends, family and members of the same political party.

We got a lot of projects and was good but the real goal behind those projects with over costs are what people are condemning.  

[Jim Tosch]

This was what the U.S. should have done. Cheap money, cheap commodities and a desperate need for jobs and a horrible infrastructure problem. If not then when. But the GOP didn't want a booming recovery for Obama so they killed it. Martenelli had another goal. Over the next decades it should pay for itself but the next few years could be difficult, new debt , less jobs and delayed revenue increases

[Keith Woolford]

Richard, I agree. The major accomplishments to infrastructure during Martinelli's term are impressive. The Metro system alone brought huge changes to hundreds of thousands of lives. The worker bees of Panama City who live in San Miguelito or LaChorrera started saving about fours hours a day in travel time.

Six-lane expansion through Arraijan to La Chorrera, four-lane highways from David-Boquete, Santiago-Las Tablas, Paso Canoas-Puerto Armuelles and Santiago-David were pipe dreams for years but his government got them built. Regional health centres and a big list after that. Unfortunately, some improvements are not yet paid for but at least the country has a cash cow in the Canal and will have the means.

One of Martinelli's greatest accomplishments, to my mind, was forcing the European contractors to back down on their demands for over a billion dollars for extras on the Canal expansion or they would pull out.

Boquete did not previously have a plan for a water treatment plant or improvements to the distribution system. The recent proposal leading to tenders is something that was pursued vigorously by the new Mayor during the first visit by to town by President Varela.