PANAMA ( Associated Press) – Former Panamanian President Ricardo Martinelli is working with his lawyers and political advisers to evaluate the United States’ statement implicating him in alleged acts of corruption, the former president’s office reported Thursday. .
A statement from the former president’s office sent to The Associated Press said “there is no evidence of any kind of transaction in Panama or the United States” implicating Martinelli in “any illegal actions against state resources”. connects to.
The day before, the United States implicated former President Martinelli (2009–2014) in alleged acts of corruption, pointing out that he accepted bribes in exchange for contracts for projects during his government, on the same day that former President K. The two sons return to the country after serving sentences in New York for laundering millions of dollars in bribes from the Brazilian construction company Odebrecht.
Because of this indication, the 70-year-old former Panamanian leader, who seeks to run again as a presidential candidate in the May 2024 general elections, and his immediate relatives will not be able to enter the United States, as a is indicated in US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken’s statement
Washington’s announcement coincided with the deportation from the United States of the sons of former presidents Luis Enrique and Ricardo Martinelli Linares. The brothers’ return attracted strong attention in Panama because in August they will face trial for money laundering in the Odebrecht case along with 34 others, including their father and former President Juan Carlos Varela (2014-2019). and another known locally as the “Blue Apple” for the alleged payment of multimillion-dollar bribes.
The former president’s office said Martinelli would continue to exercise all resources in Panama, the United States and any other country that allow him to claim respect for his rights and procedural guarantees and demanded that the authorities Respect the principle of presumption of innocence.
“Today more than ever we will work tirelessly to bring former President Ricardo Martinelli Berrocal to the presidency of the Republic for the second time. Nothing, and no one, will distract us from that goal,” the statement said.
“Our commitment and our alliance is with the people and with all Panamanians who want to defeat the real enemies: inequality, poverty, unemployment and lack of opportunities,” he said.
