It has become increasingly interesting to watch the new government of Panama, led by Carlos Varela since July 1st, go after officials of the previous one. So far a number of high ranking members of former President Martinelli's inner circle have been indicted and detained for corrupt acts, and million$ of dollar$ in skim have been located, and it appears there is plenty more to be uncovered. The former Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, appointed by Martinelli, is under house arrest. This week the former head of the National Police and another member of Martinelli's Security Council were arrested and are being held for running a secret wiretap operation.
They have been removing the claws of the tiger and I wonder if the former President will start thinking about travel to Switzerland soon. As a member of the Central American Parliament, he is technically immune from prosecution for the next five years. Apparently that doesn't mean the Supreme Court can't try him anyway.
Former President Ricardo Martinelli should be held accountable for the illegal surveillance that took place during his administration.
This is the view of former Supreme Court Justice Esmeralda Arosemena de Troitiño, who pointed out that the president should face criminal charges along with Alejandro Garúz and Gustavo Pérez, who are the former National Security Council secretaries that have been charged in the case.
"There is no doubt that [Martinelli] is part of this criminal situation," the former justice said. "He was the head of state, and the head of state assumes that responsibility when he was sworn in to office, namely to comply with and enforce the Constitution and the law."
Arosemena de Troitiño said the Supreme Court needs to investigate the case, since Martinelli has immunity due to his membership in the Central American Parliament (Parlacen), which he joined a few hours after leaving office.
According to the Constitution, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs can petition the court to have Martinelli investigated.
The trial would be in the hands of nine judges, though one of them would serve as prosecutor. Arosemena de Troitiño explained that the court can initiate an investigation without the consent of Parlacen.
"This case shows the importance of the separation of powers," the former justice said. "It is not possible to maintain a system where the executive has such power, because he is going to abuse it."
Under current law, surveillance such as wiretaps and the interception of electronic communications can only be done with a court order and for a specific purpose related to a criminal activity.
Under the surveillance allegedly conducted by the Security Council, hundreds of phone calls, many of a personal nature, were intercepted.
- See more at: http://www.prensa.com/in_english/Martinelli-Arosemena-Troitino_21_4118798081.html#sthash.c3Np1R43.dpuf
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Ex-President Martinelli gave his first interview since leaving the country in Miami today. The interviewer didn't cut him any slack as he repeated his accomplishments and denied charges of corruption, instead accusing others of lying. He says at one point that the idea of political asylum in the States hasn't crossed his mind, but he won't discard the possibility because of persecution here in Panama by his former friend President Varela.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9s3zKSbw_is
OMG.... Martinelli is unbelievable. He painted himself as a saint.
Looks like firing his old friend Vice-President Varela some years ago was the biggest mistake Martinelli ever made. "vengeance is a plate best served cold"
Today's LaPrensa reported that Mario Martinelli, brother of the ex-President has been added to the list of smaller fish to fry. Before leaving the country, Ricardo Martinelli signed a power of attorney authorizing Mario to act for him in legal matters.
The fourth anti-corruption prosecutor will request the Tribunal Electoral (TE) lift the immunity of Mario Martinelli, brother of former President Ricardo Martinelli, as part of the investigation into irregular contracts issued by the National Assistance Program (PAN).
Sources said the request is based on testimony by former PAN Director Rafael Guardia Jaén, who implicated Mario Martinelli in the case. Apparently, the former director said Mario Martinelli provided the agency with rice at inflated prices.
Martinelli has electoral immunity due to his role as a member of the National Board of Scrutiny on behalf of the CD party, which is chaired by his brother.
If he loses his immunity, prosecutors apparently plan to summon him for questioning.
Ricardo Martinelli is also facing criminal charges in the investigation. He left the country late last month and has not returned.
- See more at: http://www.prensa.com/in_english/Mario-Martinelli-immunity_21_41382...
The Economist published this very good article today. Looks to me like the big fish has been hooked, what remains is to reel him in.
Scandal in Panama
No Chávez, but no prize
An ex-president’s colourful tale Feb 7th 2015 | PANAMA CITY | From the print edition
FROM ex-president Ricardo Martinelli’s plush 43rd-floor offices overlooking the shorefront of Panama City, the view is good. Below is a Ferrari distributor; nearby are flamboyant skyscrapers, such as a twisted green one known as the “Screw”, which sprouted during his 2009-14 tenure. In those five years, Panama’s growth averaged a blistering 8%, the best in Latin America, though debt also ballooned. A supermarket millionaire, Mr Martinelli touted his country as the Latin Singapore.
Those who championed him as a pro-business alternative to left-wing zealots like Hugo Chávez of Venezuela are thinking again. Seven months after stepping down from office, he has left the country on his private jet, amid accusations that his government ran a corruption and political-espionage racket. He denies wrongdoing.
In January, the Supreme Court voted to launch an investigation into his role in a corruption case involving a $45m programme to deliver dried food to poor schoolchildren. On February 3rd the prosecutor’s office said that 44 people had testified as either victims or witnesses in a wire-tapping scandal. Accusations against Mr Martinelli by at least five people have been forwarded to the Supreme Court, which handles high-profile political cases.
Mr Martinelli says he is the victim of a vendetta by Juan Carlos Varela, his former vice-president, who succeeded him as president. One of Mr Martinelli’s lawyers, Carlos Carrillo, says that before carrying out the investigation the Supreme Court must persuade the Central American Parliament (a do-nothing body of which his client is a member) to lift his immunity. He says Mr Martinelli is free to remain outside Panama while the court investigates.
The allegations, however, are the latest turn in a downward spiral that began when Mr Martinelli’s handpicked candidate unexpectedly lost to Mr Varela in a presidential election last May. At the time, Mr Martinelli’s supporters dominated the National Assembly, the Supreme Court, the attorney-general’s office and the comptroller-general’s office—that is, almost all the centres of power in Panama except the electoral tribunal. His hold on the Supreme Court weakened when one of his appointees was suspended for amassing inexplicable wealth.
On winning the election, Mr Varela, jettisoned from Mr Martinelli’s government three years earlier, vowed to look into the corruption allegations. His aides said they expected the first targets to be the massive infrastructure projects that were the hallmark of the former administration. Instead, the first allegations emerged from an inconspicuous anti-poverty agency based in a townhouse next to the presidential office. Contracts worth $1.2 billion are under scrutiny. Two of its former directors have been arrested. One, Giacomo Tamburrelli, has twice testified to prosecutors about the dried-food programme, allegedly implicating Mr Martinelli.
Compounding the ex-president’s woes, last month prosecutors arrested two former members of his national-security agency on charges relating to the political-espionage scandal. Álvaro Alemán, Mr Varela’s chief of staff, says around 150 political and other leaders, including the archbishop of Panama, are believed to have had their phones and other communication devices tapped, based on dossiers and hard disks obtained by investigators. On February 2nd, Juan Carlos Navarro, a former presidential candidate, issued an affidavit alleging that his emails and cellular phone were bugged during the campaign, as were those of his staff. He accused Mr Martinelli of racketeering. “This was a massive, illegal spying operation,” he says.
Mr Martinelli’s spokesman, Luis Eduardo Camacho, says the evidence in the spying case is thin. But Panamanians are losing faith in the mercurial leader who once charmed them with his sharp-tongued charisma (one former fan hums a tune by a Panamanian singer, Rubén Blades: “You can see their faces, but not their hearts”).
Abroad, his backers have gone quiet. One long-standing critic, Juan Carlos Hidalgo of the Cato Institute, a Washington-based think-tank, recalls how right-wing Americans used to urge him not to bash Mr Martinelli because he was “one of us”—a Chávez foe who presided over a growth miracle. Now he is dismissed as just another tarnished Latin American populist.
From the print edition: The Americas
Poulett Morales, who filled orders for PAN, the national agency at the heart of the corruption scandal, has now been charged in relation to the supply of $6 million worth of backpacks for the Ministry of Education. A few years ago, this woman was the owner of a small boutique in the area of Marbella. She is now constructing an $8 million dollar shopping centre in the same expensive area. In earlier interviews, her story changed several times about her relationship with Martinelli and her profit margin on the backpack supply, which she described as being 'social work'.
Poulett Morales charged with corruption
Prosecutors have charged Poulett Morales with four counts related to the sale of 600,000 backpacks to the Ministry of Education that were financed by the National Assistance Program (PAN).
The charges were filed Dec. 26 but not made public until yesterday. The charges include embezzlement, fraud, corruption and public procurement fraud.
Her lawyer, Víctor Almengor, said that he will file a complaint against the prosecutors who investigated the case. He said there was no crime because the backpacks were provided at a fair price. Morales was slated to appear before prosecutors yesterday, but the appearance was delayed.
- See more at: http://www.prensa.com/in_english/Poulett-Morales-corruption_21_4135296430.html#sthash.ftfhL49s.dpuf
Poulet Morales
Poulett Morales is the latest to leave town ..with lots of luggage. Although she has been charged with four counts of corruption no travel restrictions were imposed on her and it appears she's flown the coop.
LaPrensa reported a few days ago that the ex-President isn't with his plane. They're not sure where he is and the aircraft's pilots they tried to interview aren't talking.
The private plane of the former President Ricardo Martinelli that landed in Bologna, Italy, over the weekend is slated to depart for Ireland without any passengers.
According to sources at the Guglielmo Marconi Airport, only the pilots are expected to be on board. The plane was used to take Martinelli to a meeting of the Central American Parliament (Parlacen) in Guatemala last week, then went to Florida, Canada and Ireland before its final destination of Italy. It is not clear if the former president was ever on board for those legs.
- See more at: http://www.prensa.com/in_english/Ricardo-Martinelli-ex-president_21...
"The citizenry gave us a clear mandate to bring a change to this government, from top to bottom, and that is what we are going to do.
The custom that politicians put their personal interests over those of the people, has reached an end.
The game of having a big government and a weak people has stopped.
The era of politicians who enter government with nothing and leave as millionaires has expired.
In my Government a man can put his foot in it. However, he cannot put his hand.
That is why, today, we inaugurate a government that will put the interests of the people first".
That is the text from the first 45 seconds or so of this segment of ex-President Martinelli's inauguration speech in 2009. It was inspiring at the time.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MIOCDHOP0RI
"Este pueblo nos dio un claro mandato para traer un cambio a este gobierno, de arriba a abajo, y eso es lo que vamos a hacer.
La costumbre de que los políticos ponen sus intereses personales sobre los del pueblo, se terminó.
El juego de tener un gobierno gordo y un pueblo flaco llegó a su fin.
La era de los políticos que entran limpios y salen millonarios se acabó.
En mi gobierno se puede meter la pata. Pero no se puede meter la mano.
Por eso hoy, inauguramos un gobierno que va a poner los intereses del pueblo primero."
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