Panama approves embattled ex-President Martinelli’s passage to Nicaragua

Former president Ricardo Martinelli, who is currently facing money laundering charges, has been granted safe passage to Nicaragua thanks to Panama’s government.

In response to concerns about the former president’s health, foreign affairs minister Javier Martinez-Acha Vasquez announced on Thursday that Martinelli would be permitted to leave.

Martinelli has been avoiding arrest by residing in Panama City’s embassy, where he had previously been granted asylum by Nicaragua.

The health concerns Martinelli faces were not addressed by Panama’s foreign minister.

The Foreign Relations Ministry has approved Mr. Martinelli Berrocal’s asylum request because justice’s timeline does not always coincide with health’s, according to Martinez-Acha Vasquez.

“This asylum has been granted for pure humanitarian reasons, and the safe conduct has been recognized.”

After serving a 2023 sentence for money laundering, Martinelli, 73, has exhausted all of his legal options. In addition, the case also resulted in a $ 19 million fine.

Martinelli’s political career came to an end as a result of the conviction. He was denied a presidential election in Panama last year after the Electoral Tribunal’s ruling that year.

Anyone who has served five years or more in prison is prohibited from holding elected office under Panama’s constitution. However, Martinelli was viewed as the race’s frontrunner prior to the decision.

Martinelli has always maintained his innocence. However, prosecutors successfully argued that he used his influence to, between 2009 and 2014, grant government contracts to businesses that later funneled money to a group known as “New Business.”

According to the prosecution, that company was a front. And they claimed that Martinelli benefited from it by buying a national newspaper publisher.

One of Martinelli’s most recent controversy came after he left office, and it was the “New Business” scandal.

He and his two sons, Luis Enrique Martinelli Linares and Ricardo Martinelli Linares, have also been accused of being involved in the international corruption investigation that implicated leaders from several Latin American nations.

Martinelli, a former supermarket entrepreneur and well-known right-winger, has used social media to communicate with his supporters since February 2024.

Till Thursday, Panama has turned down his request to leave. However, Martinelli expressed concern that the country’s police might intercept him before the foreign minister’s announcement that he will now be allowed to leave.

He wrote on Thursday on the social media platform X that “they must be plotting against me by having Alpha Units of the National Police outside the Nicaraguan Embassy.”