Martinelli insider gets to use presidential guard for mall security

THE USE OF The presidential protection service (SPI) to provide security to Albrook Mall during the Christmas shopping season has been widely criticized.

Critics believe that task is outside the functions that govern this body of state security.

A recent investigation by La Prensa of the various shopping centers in the capital of the various shopping centers in the capital revealed that SPI agents were guarding facilities only in Albrook Mall, which belongs to Los Pueblos, whose biggest shareholder is Alfredo Mello Aleman friend and one of the inner circle of the president, Ricardo Martinelli, as denounced by Vice President Juan Carlos Varela.
"When the Defense Forces were ousted by the 1989 invasion the SPI was established as an arm of the Presidency of the Republic with well-defined functions," said Menalco Solis. former head of the State Security Council.
Solis bases his argument on Article 3 of Decree-Law 2 of 1999, which gives the organizational structure of the Institutional Protection Service (SPI ), stating that that one of the objectives of this institution is "to provide security for the premises of the Presidency and facilities as determined by the President of the Republic. "
Of the role that the personal relationship between Martinelli and Aleman might have in providing security for the mall, Solis said that "no matter if Mello (Aleman) is a friend … that's one of the principles of the institutions that are not respected here. Using the SPI at Albrook Mall violates the institution” he said.
Panameñista deputy Luis Eduardo Quirós says the National Police should be used to provide security at the mall and not the SPI which was created to protect state institutions and not private companies.