April 2014: former miners from Richard Fifer’s and Ricardo Martinelli’s Petaquilla Gold swindle block the road over unpaid wages and Seguro Social contributions. Nowadays what are left behind are toxic holes from which water leaks in the rainy season and dust blows in the dry season, plus many legal and financial messes. Photo by Radio Temblor.

VP picks: Nito goes with gold scheme lawyer, Roux with reporter, FAD with economist

by Eric Jackson

Once upon a time there was an environmental crime, labor law violation and pump and dump insider stock trading swindle known as Petaquilla Gold. Its locus of activity was in the mountains between northern Cocle province and the western part of Colon’s Costa Abajo, but it was registered in Canada as Petaquilla Minerals. At one relatively brief moment it spread to Spain, promising to reopen a gold mine in Andalusia that dates back at least as far as ancient Roman times. Eventually it all fell apart. The Andalusia regional government kicked them out and Canadian stock exchanges de-listed their shares. However, Petaquilla lives on in a plethora of criminal and civil cases in Panamanian courts and prosecutors’ offices and as a stack of unpaid bills.

Now its attorney and legal representative, 35-year-old José Gabriel Carrizo, will be the PRD candidate for vice president. Presidential standard bearer Laurentino “Nito” Cortizo chose him over the weekend, talking about Carrizo’s wonderful family and membership in the next generation of politicians. Pundits noted that Carrizo is from Penonomé, seat of a Cocle province where the PRD is usually weak and which Cortizo would surely like to win this time.

Fifer, dubbed “the father of modern mining in Panama” by a gushy industry publication, is out on bail and facing multiple criminal charges. He has a June 1 trial date for allegedly defrauding the Social Security Fund. Ricardo Martinelli remains in jail — but might soon be granted bail — and has a March trial date on warrantless eavesdropping and theft charges. The former president argues that on procedural and treaty grounds he can’t be tried for an insider trading and money laundering scheme in which worthless Petaquilla stock was hyped as something valuable and sold through a chain of intermediaries, with the proceeds hidden via another chain of intermediaries.

Perhaps the most important thing about the stock swindle and money laundering case is that it’s most probably also a murder case — government securities analyst Vernon Ramos disappeared in 2012 while investigating the case. There is no statute of limitations on such cases and in the event of a procedural bar to prosecution here, by treaty there remains the opportunity to ship the accused off to The Hague to be tried by the International Criminal Court.

By Electoral Tribunal records, Carrizo is one of Nito Cortizo’s main contributors, having delivered more than $90,000 to the PRD candidate’s primary campaign. Due to Electoral Tribunal practices, the record would not distinguish whether Carrizo was a fundraiser and bundler of other people’s donations or whether that was his own money. A 10-year member of the PRD, Carrizo has held no public office. His living has been made in the practice of law — of which being legal representative of Petaquilla was — and in his family’s real estate business. He is a graduate of the USMA law school.

The other VP hopefuls

Meanwhile Cambio Democratico presidential candidate Rómulo Roux has tapped former Telemetro reporter Luis Casís as his running mate. Casís comes from the tradition of journalists who deny having a point of view, is unaffiliated with any political party, has never held any public office and says that he has no politics.

The leftist Broad Front for Democracy — running to advance a cause rather that seriously contending for the presidency — has collectively chosen University of Panama economist Maribel Gordón as the running mate of its presidential candidate, labor leader Saúl Méndez. Gordón has been one of the principal thinkers behind the left wing of the Panamanian labor movement and its CONUSI labor federation. That the militant SUNTRACS construction workers’ union has consistently had a very good tactical sense of what the market will bear in its contract negotiations can in part be attributed to her.

The independents have already chosen their running mates — Ricardo Lambana recruiting former Electoral Tribunal magistrate Guillermo Márquez Amado, Ana Matilde Gómez running with former agriculture minister Jorge Arango, and Marco Ameglio having chosen former diplomat and legislator Mario Boyd Galindo. The Panameñista nominee, José Isabel Blandón, has yet to announce his choice.

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Prosecutors’ chart of the New Business case, for which a court just granted another one-year extension to investigate. Much of the time problem is that this was a crime spread around multiple jurisdictions, requiring proceedings to secure the cooperation of foreign governments. Perhaps a bigger risk to the former president that possible prison time is the possible loss of EPASA, the publishing company that puts out La Critica and El Panama America and a key part of the Cambio Democratico political operation. It is alleged that two major construction projects, the widening of the Arraijan – La Chorrera Autopista and the office tower on the legislative palace, were used for overpayment of public funds, which were then kicked back for Martinelli, hiding behind associates, to buy the newspapers.

Prosecutors outline Blue Apple
and New Business cases

by Eric Jackson

Jailed former president Ricardo Martinelli is running for mayor and legislator from his prison lodgings in El Renacer near Gamboa, looking forward to a February 4 bail hearing and a March 12 trial for illegal eavesdropping, illegal use of government equipment to do that and ultimately the theft of that equipment.

(Full disclosure: as this reporter’s attorney and someone whose work is occasionally featured in The Panama News was on Martinelli’s known 150-member enemies list, email and telephone communication between that person and this reporter were intercepted.)

Before the trial was removed from the Supreme Court the prosecuting magistrate asked for a 23-year prison sentence and the magistrate acting as judged reduce the potential incarceration time to 21 years. Ricardo Martinelli may spend the rest of his life behind bars, or his remaining years out on bail and stuck in eternal litigation. As he fled the country to evade arrest, in any normal legal system bail would be out of the question but this is Panama.

Meanwhile the ex-president’s two sons, Ricardo Martinelli Linares and Luis Enrique Martinelli Linares, wait under house arrest in a Miami mansion for a March 4 immigration hearing, at which they may be deported for being in the United States without proper visas. That sort of deportation would avoid all manner of extradition issues, but the two young men might try to get voluntary departure to somewhere other than Panama so as to complicate and prolong matters.

On January 31 prosecutors from the anti-corruption and organized crime offices laid out their theories of two complicated cases involving the Martinellis. One, the Blue Apple affair, is about generalized corruption in public works contracting during the 2009-2014 Martinelli administration.

Anti-corruption prosecutor Aurelio Vásquez told of a more than $78 million kickback and money laundering scheme, involving a suppose factoring business called Blue Apple, 61 individuals, at least seven construction firms, at least 20 shell companies, the two younger Martinellis, a former minister of public works and the contracting director under him, a former vice president of Global Bank and an attorney who allegedly set up at least six money laundering chains.

Organized crime prosecutor David Mendoza described a scheme to divert nearly $44 million from a major road project and a big addition to the legislative palace, to finance the purchase by a group controlled by Ricardo Martinelli of EPASA, the parent company of the daily newspapers El Panama America and La Critica. The New Business case is named after one of 18 business entities, along with a law firm and four individuals, who funneled the stolen funds through 24 bank accounts at 13 banks situated in four countries. There may be more players to be discovered yet as prosecutors take their discovery missions to Switzerland, the United States and China, plus some Caribbean lands where some of the companies were registered.

The stakes are possible years in prison for the three Martinellis and their accomplices — powerful incentives for partners in crime to turn state’s evidence — and also the Martinelli media empire and its political effects. So far a number of people have made plea bargains but most of those named in both cases are denying all.

What to do in Panamanian legal culture? Why, argue procedure. The former president’s defenders are arguing the doctrine of specialty, which has it that a person extradited for one thing can’t be tried for another crime committed before the extradition without being first afforded an opportunity to return to the jurisdiction from whence he or she was extradited. It is specifically provided for in the 1904 US – Panamanian extradition treaty:

However, as noted in a 93-page opinion by Magistrate Edwin Torres, the extradition was not based only on that treaty, but also on the Budapest Convention on Cyber Crimes and the United Nations Convention against Corruption (UNCAC). Neither of those agreements contain a specialty clause. Nor did the US State Department specify that the extradition was only for the purpose of trial on one of the many cases pending against the older Martinelli.

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Ameglio’s selfie emphasizes that he’s for God and his family.

Peñaloza finally sees a violation

by Eric Jackson

Was it the people who complained that their names appeared on Marco Ameglio’s nominating petitions, but that they didn’t sign and would not have signed? Not that, although at least 46 people, not including candidates, have been referred to the Electoral Prosecutor over bogus signatures.

Electoral Prosecutor Eduardo Peñaloza, a Ricardo Martinelli appointee who notoriously looked the other way in the tainted 2014 campaign and then argued for dismissal of all charges when the Electoral Tribunal’s own investigations led to cases being opened, finally found a case to file. Under this year’s regulations, those seeking spots on the ballot as independent presidential candidates were limited to spending no more than $2 per signature in their petition campaigns. Marco Ameglio filed an expense report of $259,763.84, all of which came from his own pocket. He submitted 355,038 signatures, of which the Electoral Tribunal accepted only 115,071 as legitimate.

Look for possible litigation about how to count and do long division, but not about the apparently massive petition fraud by Ameglio and Francisco Carreira. The latter, who came in fifth in the race for three ballot spots, submitted 245,399 signatures. The tribunal only found 70,643 of these to be valid.

Carreira admits that lists of Electoral Tribunal data (which are supposed to be confidential) were used in his petition drive. But in 2014 the use of such government data by the Martinelli campaign was disregarded by Peñaloza and the matter never got to the Electoral Tribunal or to the regular criminal justice system.

Ameglio, a former legislator and at one time president of the Panameñista Party, denies all wrongdoing and says that he will put up a vigorous legal defense.

If  Ameglio gets bumped off of the ballot, the next in line would be Dimitri Flores. That is, presuming that he doesn’t have the same problem as Ameglio or if he does will get different treatment.

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Blandón ~ Roux ~ Ameglio ~ Cortizo ~ Gómez ~ Lombana ~ Méndez

In the race for president of Panama…

by Eric Jackson

Who are the candidates?

This election cycle there is a narrow window of time for campaign ads. Otherwise radio and television would already be insufferable. Might that mean that instead of jingles and imagery the candidates will talk about issues? Mostly they have not done so at this point. There will be televised debates.

It’s a seven-way race among Laurentino “Nito” Cortizo of the Democratic Revolutionary Party (PRD), José Isabel Blandón of the Panameñista Party, Rómulo Roux of Democratic Change (CD) and Saúl Méndez of the Broad Front for Democracy (FAD), plus independents Ana Matilde Gómez, Ricardo Lombana and Marco Ameglio.

Notes on what they say about themselves

Nito Cortizo
https://www.nitocortizo.com/conoce-a-nito/ – slow website to open
University studies in the USA – doesn’t say where, if he graduated or in which field
Went to the OAS right out of the university
Son of a chiva driver in Alcalde Diaz
Business background

Ana Matilde Gómez
https://www.anamatildegomez.com/#adi_page1001_1_102 – slow website to open
Law degree, masters in criminology at University of Panama, Human Rights law studies at USMA
She has taught law
Business background

Ricardo Lombana
https://otrocaminopanama.com/
Law degree, University of Panama, LLM at George Washington University, continuing education courses at Harvard and Oxford
Journalist and assistant editor at La Prensa
Law and media person

Rómulo Roux
https://renovacion.nationbuilder.com/biografia_romulo
BS Babson College (Boston), JD Miami University, LLM USMA, MBA Northwestern
Minister of Canal Affairs. Says he solved the metro area’s water problems
Corporate lawyer

José Isabel Blandón
Uses social media, seems to have no website
University of Panama law degree, studies disrupted by exile in Noriega times
A few days in jail after arrest in anti-Noriega protest, twice exiled (USA and Puerto Rico)
Son of a PRD politician, from Chitre

Saúl Méndez
No specific website, but part of a leftist movement with much online presence
Labor relations degree from UDELAS, Political science degree from Universidad Panamericana
Construction worker, father of three, 30 years as a labor activist, secretary general of SUNTRACS

Marco Ameglio
https://marcoameglio.com/biografia/
Business degree from USMA, courses in business at INCAE and dairy processing at Penn State
Panameñista background: was the youngest legislator in Noriega times, later party president (2005-2006), was on the ACP board
Lists his family at the top of his qualifications

Some associations about which to be aware

Asking an uncomfortable question is not the same as making an accusation, and for some, it’s a welcome opportunity. With this year’s crop of presidential candidates there are many ties that may mean something, and at least ought to be the subject of questions:

• Serves or served in the National Assembly, thus depending on variations on the concept, possibly vulnerable to the #NoALaReelección wrath (current legislator with asterisk): Cortizo, Gómez*, Blandón, Ameglio
• Served as a cabinet minister or head of an autonomous branch of government: Gómez, Cortizo, Roux
• Served as mayor of Panama City: Blandón
• Had direct business dealings with Odebrecht or at least one of its subsidiaries: Cortizo, Roux, Méndez, Blandón
• Have been set up on politically motivated and contrived or totally bogus criminal charges: Gómez, Méndez, Blandón
• Beneficiaries of the Electoral Tribunal’s or Electoral Prosecutor’s largess in criminal matters: Roux (won’t lift his candidate’s immunity so that he can be investigated on an Odebrecht case); Ameglio (his petitions included a lot of forgeries and so far no big deal is made of it)
• Served in or was politically allied with the Martinelli administration: Roux, Blandón
• Served in or was appointed by the Martín Torrijos administration: Cortizo, Gómez, Lombana
• Served in a public post during the dictatorship: Cortizo
• Arnulfista roots, thus likely to split the Panameñista vote and doom their already slim chances: Blandón, Ameglio
• Worked in US-Panamanian relations: Gómez (for USAID in Panama), Lombana (with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Washington), Cortizo (with the OAS in Washington)
• Worked for a Motta company: Gómez (Banco Continental)
• Worked in the banking / offshore corporations sector: Roux, Blandón, Gómez
• Worked in the construction sector: Cortizo, Méndez, Ameglio
• Worked for or served on the board of the Panama Canal Authority: Roux, Ameglio
• Worked in or with the agriculture sector: Cortizo, Ameglio
• Worked in or with the energy sector: Ameglio
• Worked in or with the telecommunications sector: Roux
• Union member: Méndez

Other signals

One important clue is to look at their campaign websites. Are they superficially beautiful but dysfunctional – slow to impossible to open, or difficult to impossible to navigate? THESE are generally people who employ young incompetents with the right surnames in their campaigns and could be expected to do so in government.

People who campaign on their families usually are saying that they are of the creole aristocracy or at least married or adopted into it and intend to defend its privileges.

Saúl Méndez brought media folks to his mother’s house in Colon and appeared there with his wife and three children for a different purpose. HIS point is that they are a respectable working class family and he won’t do the bidding of the usual elites.

Ricardo Lombana’s family reference is to his aunt, Clara González de Behringer, a legend whose bust faces the law school at the University of Panama. She was a feminist, leftist, the first woman to be a lawyer in Panama, a campaigner for women’s suffrage that did not come here until the 1940s and the country’s first juvenile judge.

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