Friday
Friday 3rd December 2021.
December 3, 2021
In the last 24 hours, there were three new deaths from Covid-19 in the country, which brings the number of deaths to 7,370, reported this December 2, the Ministry of Health (Minsa) . Regarding the new infections, it was known that 285 were reported, so the accumulated cases rise to 478,275. The epidemiological report of the Minsa also indicates that in order to know the new cases, 7,345 tests were applied for a positivity of 3.8%. While the people recovered from the disease total 468,201, of which 201 are new recovered. Active cases total 2,704, of which 2,598 are in home isolation and 116 hospitalized. Those who are in home isolation are divided into 2,524 at home and 74 in hospital hotels. There are 86 patients in the ward and 20 are in the intensive care unit.
Luis Enrique Martinelli Linares pleaded guilty this Thursday to having participated, with his brother Ricardo Alberto and “others”, in a scheme to launder the bribes paid by Odebrecht, through US banks. In a hearing held before Judge Raymond J. Dearie of the Eastern District Court of New York, Martinelli Linares pleaded guilty to one of the five charges against him, specifically one of conspiracy to launder money, and admitted that His 42-year-old brother Ricardo Alberto Martinelli Linares participated in this crime, who currently remains detained in Guatemala awaiting extradition to the United States. The reading of the sentence will be on May 20, 2022, at 11:00 a.m., and, for now, Martinelli Linares, 39, will remain in the Brooklyn detention center, where he has been since November 15, when he was extradited from Guatemala. Judge Dearie validated a 13-page plea agreement filed by prosecutor Breon Peace and Martinelli Linares’ defense attorney James McGovern of the firm Hogan Lovells, in which the defendant acknowledges that he and his brother served as intermediaries at the reception and payment of approximately $ 28 million in bribes between Odebrecht and a former “high-ranking official of the Panamanian government,” who was a close relative of the defendants. The judge explained to Martinelli Linares that with the plea agreement he is renouncing his right to be tried by a jury of conscience and he cannot file any appeal, unless the sentence is greater than 151 months in prison .
The National Highway Company (ENA) announced this Thursday, December 2, that measures will be taken with those drivers who travel through the corridors without a balance, while anticipating that the delinquency for the use of these roads exceeds $ 6 million. In a statement, ENA emphasizes that, in coordination with the competent authorities, it will proceed not to raise the barrier in the toll booths for users who circulate through the corridors without a balance on the Panapass and that their eviction from the road will be carried out. .
A group of deputies from various banks are in Colombia reviewing that country’s experience in terms of the domain forfeiture regime, a tool to confiscate assets acquired by criminals. The Ministry of Public Security reported that the meetings attended by the deputies are aimed at training them on the subject. This training is sponsored by the United States Department of State.
Euro 14, the witness of the Public Ministry (MP) in several cases of corruption related to the defunct National Aid Program (PAN) during the administration of Ricardo Martinelli (2009-2014), assured that none of the anti-corruption prosecutors pressured him to link high-ranking officials. In an interview with journalist Álvaro Alvarado, Euro 14 (Abraham Williams) affirmed that the pressure came to him from officials of the National Security Council (CSN) and that his annoyance with the Public Ministry officials was due to things that they promised and then never fulfilled.
Panamanian authorities found a large amount of money inside a hiding place in a house in the Nueva Providencia sector, Colón province. The action took place after learning of the arrest of 56 people in the Fisher operation, through which a network dedicated to drug trafficking and money laundering was dismantled and they even collaborated with the Clan del Golfo, of Colombia . The commissioner of the National Police, Julio Wong, reported that the money is still being counted, first it must be established whether the bills are counterfeit or not. However, he announced that these are “million dollar sums.” “We must wait for the official count,” he emphasized.
The United States donated to Panama a new coastal surveillance vessel valued at $ 8.5 million. During a ceremony on the Amador Causeway, this Thursday, the head of mission of the United States Embassy in Panama, Stewart Tuttle, handed over to President Laurentino Cortizo the boat, built in a shipyard in Louisiana, United States.
Panama was chosen as one of the 22 places to visit in 2022 by Condé Nast Traveler , an international magazine specialized in luxury tourism and lifestyle published by the Condé Nast company. The magazine highlighted the hundreds of islands, both on the Caribbean and Pacific sides, that can be enjoyed visiting the isthmus.