15 company presidents call for Martinelli apology

Fifteen company presidents, members of the Chamber of Commerce, have  asked President, Ricardo Martinelli,  for a public apology and the cessation of hostilities against the business sector.

"The private sector considers that the President should offer a direct formal apology, and be more polite when speaking about private enterprise," said Joseph J. Rivera,   president of the Chamber.

Martinelli called businessmen  "impresarios" and "thieves" in a scathing attackto which he added  La Prensa,  in his speech to the National Assembly on Monday January 2.

The call by the Chamber of Commerce was made after a courtesy visit to  Roberto Eisenmann, founder of La Prensa to hear his version of the visit  paid by government audit inspectors to his company Coronado Golf Development, Inc.

Eisenmann said the 15 presidents at the meeting supported him in his approach, and recalled that since the crisis of the military dictatorship no meeting of this scope had been held.

The entrepreneur said that  he had  exposed the cases of small entrepreneurs who are victims of abuse of power by the government through fiscal policy.

Martinelli, said in a written statement that  he was not worried about the reactions resulting from the use of the qualifier "impresarios" used in to refer to employers who do not pay taxes. The statements were released in a statement.