News
Tuesday 22nd April 2025.
April 21, 2025
Despite the restrictions inherent to his asylum status, former President Ricardo Martinelli (2009-2014) continues to make political interventions from the Nicaraguan Embassy in Panama, where he remains imprisoned.
Through messages disseminated on social media and communications directed at members of his party, Martinelli maintains an active presence on the national scene, challenging the traditional limits of diplomatic asylum and authorities such as President José Raúl Mulino, who have questioned these interventions.
In a recent message, the former president publicly instructed the 15 deputies from his Realizing Goals (RM) party in the National Assembly to vote in favor of the amnesty bill currently being discussed in the legislature. The leader of the political group urged them not only to support the initiative with their votes, but also to actively defend and promote it in the plenary session.
As you may recall, the controversial Bill 325, which seeks to grant amnesty to former presidents Martinelli and Juan Carlos Varela, has once again sparked debate in the National Assembly after ruling party representative Luis Eduardo Camacho presented a minority report seeking its approval.
Although the Government, Justice and Constitutional Affairs Committee rejected the bill with five votes against on April 15, Camacho—who chairs the committee—voted in favor along with his fellow Realizing Goals (RM) member, Ariel Vallarino , thus consolidating the minority that supports the report.
Martinelli’s speech focused on the idea of ”turning the page” and building a climate of national harmony. “Let us seek peace and work together with this government,” he stated.
This is the second attempt by the legislature to free the former president from the 128-month prison sentence imposed on him in the New Business case, related to the purchase of shares in Editora Panamá América, SA (Epasa) in 2010, when he was still President.
The draft bill consists of six articles—one of them added by hand—and, from the very first one, it clearly establishes its purpose: to grant a “general amnesty” to those sentenced or prosecuted in the New Business, Odebrecht, and Blue Apple cases.
Martinelli appears in all three cases: he was already convicted in the first and is facing trial in the other two, along with his sons, Luis Enrique and Ricardo Alberto Martinelli Linares, who are also implicated in the money laundering operations.
Article 1 makes it explicit: “A general amnesty is granted to persons convicted, prosecuted, or who may be prosecuted” in these three high-profile cases.
The National Authority for Transparency and Access to Information (ANTAI) reported this Monday, April 21, 2025, that it has recommended the dismissal of three members of a family who work at a Social Security clinic in the province of Veraguas.
In a statement, the agency reported that it received an anonymous complaint against these three officials. Antai reported that the complaint indicated that one of the individuals involved held the position of Head of Human Resources and that her two sons work at the same clinic in Veraguas.
“After completing the investigations, it was verified through certifications from the Electoral Court, specifically the National Directorate of Civil Registry and the Social Security Fund, that the official in the position of head of Human Resources supervised and controlled the work of her two (2) children at said polyclinic,” the entity’s statement states.
Antai added that, as a result of this situation, he recommended the dismissal of the three public servants.
The United States and China, in that order, are the two main users of the Panama Canal. In 2024, the flow of cargo originating in the United States to the United States moved more than 160.12 million long tons, while for China, also taking into account origin and destination, the flow moved 45.04 million long tons.
Many products arriving or departing from U.S. ports have China on their itinerary, whether for import or export, and vice versa.
The trade war between the two countries, which began with the imposition of tariffs by the United States, has caused a ripple effect in China and is affecting global trade.
Donald Trump ‘s measures are having consequences, with warnings of a possible global economic recession, rising shipping costs, and inflationary pressures.
Specifically, since the start of this new trade war, Trump has imposed tariffs of up to 145% on Chinese products, while China has responded with tariffs of up to 125% on American products.
A few days ago it was learned that China halted purchases of Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) from the United States , a fuel that was used through the Panama Canal , although to a lesser extent between 2023 and 2024 due to the drought that occurred along the interoceanic route, which forced a rethink of the route.
LNG vessel transits through the Canal decreased by 64.72% in 2024 compared to fiscal year 2023, from 326 vessels to 115.
In 2022, this segment recorded a total of 374 transits through the interoceanic waterway. Many vessels that cross the Canal with this fuel depart from U.S. plants in the Gulf of Mexico bound for Japan, South Korea, and China.
Jorge Luis Quijano, former administrator of the Panama Canal Authority, explained that the decline in liquefied natural gas (LNG) vessel traffic through the interoceanic waterway began primarily two years ago, due to the impact of the drought.
“The lack of water reduced the space available for ships, and with increased demand, shipping companies couldn’t wait that long or pay to auction off a spot,” he said.
Quijano indicated that, given this situation, many vessels began diverting to other routes, such as the Cape of Good Hope, and some even went through the Suez Canal, before the crisis in that area worsened.
“Transit to Asia is now mostly done via other routes. Although some still passes through Panama, China isn’t the only key consumer of LNG; Japan and South Korea are also key consumers,” he emphasized.
In addition to the 2023 and 2024 scenario, Quijano notes that there was also a drop in LNG supply from the United States to Asian countries, due to the fact that ships were being sent to supply Europe in response to the reduction in Russian natural gas consumption following that country’s invasion of Ukraine.
The Institute of Legal Medicine and Forensic Sciences (IMELCF) has launched a new biomolecular laboratory that will allow it to perform DNA testing on the remains of people who disappeared during the military invasion of December 1989 and victims of the military dictatorship (1968-1989).
José Vicente Pachar, director of the Imelcf (National Institute of Criminal Investigation and Investigation of Persons with Disabilities), revealed that the equipment at the President Belisario Porras Police Institute (ISPOL) in Gamboa is equipped with advanced technology capable of processing samples collected at crime scenes, as well as unidentified human DNA samples. In addition, this laboratory performs paternity tests in civil and criminal cases.
Pachar explained that with this equipment, there’s no longer a need to resort to external laboratories to perform DNA tests to identify ancient skeletal remains, the verification of which is required to resolve a criminal case.
The Imelcf holds boxes containing unidentified skeletal remains of people who disappeared during the military dictatorship, as well as unidentified bodies recovered from mass graves of people who died during the invasion.
The Superior Liquidation Prosecutor’s Office requested the reopening of 20 cases of people who disappeared during the invasion, after exhuming several bodies from the Jardín de Paz and Monte Esperanza cemeteries. DNA was extracted from them and compared with biological samples from relatives who have reported the loss of relatives during the events of December 1989.
Previously, DNA testing was conducted in collaboration with the Guatemalan Forensic Anthropology Foundation, which performed comparative analyses of samples submitted by the victims’ families.
So far, the prosecutor’s office has exhumed 41 bodies to compare their DNA with that of relatives and conduct a process of exclusion for identification.
Metropolitan Archbishop José Domingo Ulloa expressed his deep sorrow for the death of Pope Francis this Monday, April 21, through a message on the official account of the Archdiocese of Panama.
“Today, Panama mourns the passing of a Pope who taught us to dream of a Church that goes forth, who opened paths of dialogue, who challenged us to care for our common home and to not be indifferent to the suffering of the discarded,” said Ulloa, highlighting the spiritual and social legacy of the Argentine pontiff, who died at the age of 88.
The archbishop called on all parishes, religious communities, and lay faithful across the country to join in prayer and celebrate Masses in memory of the Pope. “We raise our prayers for his soul, trusting that the Lord, whom he loved passionately and faithfully, has welcomed him into His Kingdom as a good and faithful servant,” he stated.
Ulloa especially recalled Francis’ visit to Panama in 2019, when he presided over World Youth Day (WYD), an event that, he said, profoundly marked the faith of the Panamanian people.
“From the beginning of his pontificate, the Holy Father showed us the face of a Church that is simple, merciful, and committed to the most vulnerable,” he added.
The archbishop also described the Supreme Pontiff as a “tireless witness to the Gospel, a close father, a humble servant of the poor, and a shepherd with the smell of sheep” and expressed his hope that Francis’ legacy “may continue to illuminate our Church’s path toward unity, justice, and hope.”