Varela wont raise Odebrecht scandal with Trump

AS CIVIL SOCIETY  in the Dominican Republic and other countries  is calling for a UN investigation of the Odebrecht bribery scandal that has infected  countries across Latin America, Panama  President Juan Carlos Varela announced Wednesday  Feb.22  that he will not raise the matter when he meets with U.S. President Donald Trump in the coming weeks.

“The issues being handled by the Public Prosecutor’s Office, the Supreme Court of Justice and the United States Department of Justice must be left to those institutions.” He said on Wednesday, Feb. 22

“Our agenda is about the present and the future, the issues of the past it is up to them to see justice,” he said.

Panama is seeking the appearance of ex-president Ricardo Martinell  to face over a dozen charges linked to corruption and wire  tapping and an Interpol red alert has been issued his two sons to face money laundering charges. All three are in Miami.

Varela, whose own administration has  been queried about contracts with  Odebrecht  said he prefers to focus his agenda on specific issues such as the fight against organized crime, drug

trafficking, air safety, the Panama Canal, ports and everything that has to do with the exchange of commercial information.

“I feel it is more important to see issues that impact the present and the future of 4 million people and not

the past of some officials and entrepreneurs,” he added.

Varela spoke with Trump by phone on Sunday with President Trump by phone, and he was invited to meet with the president in Washington.

But before Varela travels to meet with Trump, Security Minister Alexis Bethancourt and others will travel to to U.S. to meet with Trump’s security team.

Also traveling will be Foreign Minister Isabel de Saint Malo de Alvarado and Deputy Foreign Minister Luis Miguel Hincapié.