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Martinelli and five other heads of state in Cartagena.  Photo by the Presidencia

Martinelli criticizes Obama, says he won't "lose any more time" over the US-Panama free trade pact
by Eric Jackson

"In Latin America we love the United States very much, but the United States has forgotten us --- who knows the dynamics of their domestic politics? --- as he always has forgotten his younger brother in the back yard," Ricardo Martinelli complained at an April 8 session of an economic forum in Cartagena, Colombia.

The previous day, in a wide-ranging 15-minute interview with CNN's Spanish-language network, Martinelli advised that "Obama should change his attitude." He said that he's "not going to lose more time" with the US-Panama free trade pact, which was signed in 2007 but has not been ratified by the US Congress. "The treaty favors the United States more than it favors Panama," Martinelli said, the failure to ratify it "disenchants US investors" thinking about doing business in Panama.

Although key members of Congress demand an end to Panamanian banking and corporate secrecy, which they say assists tax evasion and the laundering of the proceeds of organized crime, Martinelli asserted that a series of agreements to avoid double taxation of income ought to address those concerns.

The strains between Martinelli and Obama have been ever more evident in recent weeks, in particular by the Martinelli administration's decision to hire Republican lobbyists and speechwriters --- people like George W. Bush's speechwriter Terry Holt. The move, made before the passage of the Democrats' health insurance reform bill, suggests that Martinelli has either bet on the Republicans winning control over the US Congress in November or that for ideological reasons he's siding with the right regardless of the diplomatic consequences.

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