News
Thursday 8th February 2024.
February 8, 2024
Minutes after it became known that the Nicaraguan regime granted asylum to Ricardo Martinelli , its spokesperson, Luis Eduardo Camacho, called on the government of Laurentino Cortizo to allow the departure of the former president of the Republic to the Central American country.
In front of the headquarters of the Nicaraguan Embassy in Panama, located in the La Alameda urbanization, Betania district, Camacho confirmed that Martinelli is already in the diplomatic residence.
“Martinelli is in the Nicaraguan Embassy and is not going to leave,” he assured. “That information [acceptance of asylum] formally reached the Foreign Ministry and now it is their turn to issue the safe passage for Martinelli’s departure,” she added.
When asked why he chose Nicaragua, Camacho responded with another question: “Why not?”
He explained that Martinelli can request asylum in Nicaragua, recalling that the former president studied for some years in that country, specifically in Incae, and that it is not a place unknown to him.
Martinelli graduated from INCAE, in 1977, from the Francisco de Sola Campus in Nicaragua.
Former Panamanian president Ricardo Martinelli has provided himself with countless belongings, artifacts and food since he arrived on the afternoon of this Tuesday, February 7, at the Nicaraguan Embassy in Panama, after requesting asylum in the Central American country.
Refrigeration technicians arrived first, for what was supposed to be the installation of air conditioners.
Then another group of workers appeared to measure and install a type of mesh or canvas to cover the windows of the room where the former president will sleep, who is sentenced to 10 years and eight months in prison, and the payment of a fine. of more than $19 million for money laundering in the New Business case .
Workers were observed entering and leaving, while measurements were being made, for what appeared to be the prelude to various conditioning works at the home where the Nicaraguan Embassy operates in Panama.
The diplomatic headquarters, located in the La Alameda sector, Betania district, looks deteriorated. Food supplies were also delivered to the embassy. Boxes of carbonated drinks, bottles of water and a couple of cardboard boxes, which are supposed to contain the food that Martinelli will eat.
Shirley Castañeda, Alfredo Vallarino and Sidney Sittón, lawyers for the former Panamanian ruler, were also in the area. Earlier, Camacho, Martinelli’s spokesman, visited him. Before there was Marta Linares de Martinelli, wife of the former president.
In its letter to the Panamanian Foreign Ministry, in which the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Nicaragua communicates to the Government of Panama its decision to grant political asylum to former president Ricardo Martinelli , it indicates that the decision is based on the 1928 Asylum Convention and the Convention on Political Asylum of 1933.
The letter from the Nicaraguan Government adds that asylum is a humanitarian institution and that all people can be under its protection, without distinction of nationality.
However, the 1928 asylum convention was modified in December 1933 in Montevideo. This is the replacement of article 1 of that convention.
And this is how article 1 of the 1933 Asylum Convention was worded as follows: “It is not lawful for States to grant asylum in legations, warships, camps or military aircraft to those accused of common crimes that who were properly prosecuted or who had been sentenced by ordinary courts, as well as deserters from land and sea. The people mentioned in the preceding paragraph who take refuge in some of the places indicated therein must be handed over as soon as the local government requires it.” The same convention warns that “it is up to the asylum State to determine the nature of the crime or the reasons for the persecution.”
In the case of Martinelli, a court and a court of ordinary justice found him guilty of common crimes, such as money laundering.
Next Friday, his sentence, more than ten years in prison, would become final, which would open the possibility of being captured so that he could serve his sentence.
The Panamanian Government – faced with this scenario – would have to decide whether to grant the safe conduct that the Nicaraguan regime is requesting in favor of Martinelli, commented lawyer Rodrigo Noriega, who also describes two more scenarios: that Panama grants him safe conduct to leave the country and then request it through extradition or that the justice of countries where there are cases against him – such as Spain and the United States – also request it through extradition.
The same convention was modified in 1954, but Nicaragua did not sign this treaty.
This Wednesday, February 7, the contract was signed between the Ministry of Public Works (MOP) and the Chilean company ISA Intervial for the rehabilitation of 246 kilometers of highway between Pacora and Yaviza.
This work is the first to be carried out under the Public Private Partnership (PPP) scheme, where the contractor will receive a 15-year concession to carry out the maintenance of the work.
Rafael Sabonge, minister of the MOP, indicated that the company will invest 262 million dollars over a period of two years to rehabilitate and build the highway.
At the end of this period, the 15-year concession will begin where another 180 million dollars will be invested in maintenance.
Sebastián Castañeda, vice president of growth and development at ISA, commented that once the contract is endorsed by the Comptroller General’s Office, the company will begin some temporary work, while the rehabilitation and construction works are scheduled for early 2025.
Governor Laurentino Cortizo, present at the event, dedicated himself to justifying what he has done during his mandate, regarding community visits, which total 746 activities “instead of going around the world.”
Five months before the end of his term, Cortizo still remembers the current income that the country stopped receiving in the years of the pandemic, in whose first year $4,477 million disappeared as a result of the closure of the economy and the confinement of the population.
The first advance mission of observers from the Inter-American Union of Electoral Organizations (Uniore) arrived in Panama to learn on site all the details of the organization of the general elections on May 5, 2024.
The Electoral Tribunal (TE) that the delegation was received by the presiding magistrate of the Electoral Tribunal (TE) Alfredo Juncá, who made available the electoral information required to know the progress of the process.
Among the information shared are: the innovations used in the process of collecting signatures for free nomination, youth participation, presidential debates, early voting, reproduction of copies of table minutes, among others.
Such information was explained by Judge Eduardo Valdés Escoffery, coordinator of the General Election Plan (Plagel).
The group also met with the national director of Electoral Organization, Osman Valdés, to discuss the organization of the process and political parties;
The members of the Uniore mission are: Vanessa Santo Domingo, representative of the State Elections Commission of Puerto Rico; Rafael Riva Palacio, director of International Liaison and Cooperation of the National Electoral Institute (INE) of Mexico; Piero Corvetto, head of the National Office of Electoral Processes (ONPE) of Peru; Wilfredo Penco, president of the Electoral Court of Uruguay; Tasheena Obando, international advisor of CAPEL, and José Thompson, director of CAPEL.
The Urban and Home Cleaning Authority (AAUD) canceled the contracting process through the quotation mechanism for $46.8 million, which was intended to grant a concession, for a period of three years, the operation of the Cerro Patacón landfill , in the township of Ancón.
The contracting entity called two meetings with those interested in managing the waste disposal center in Panama City and San Miguelito .
In the first meeting, which took place on January 31, 26 companies attended and in the second – which included a visit to the landfill – eight companies attended, on February 5.
However, the AAUD noted in a note that considering the request of several proponents to “extend the deadline” for submitting quotes, the entity has decided to cancel the online quote process with the objective of incorporating the considerations and expanding the content of the terms of reference of the public event.
In addition, they mentioned that they will soon be publishing new information on the Panama Compra portal about this process.
The carnival board released the agenda of activities for the five days of Carnival in the capital, specifically on the coastal strip and in the Old Town.
The activities will begin this Friday, February 9, with the coronation of the queens on the coastal strip, starting at 8:00 pm The party will last until 4:00 am
From Saturday to Tuesday the culecos will be held. The time: from 9:00 am to 3:00 pm The parades will be from 6:00 pm
In the Old Town, the activities will start on Saturday the 10th and with shorter hours. In this area, cultural and artistic activities end at 7:00 pm