Corks stay in bottle for Martinelli celebration

ON TUESDAY, February 13, some of the shrinking band of supporters of ex-president Ricardo Martinelli inspired by the fireworks at the end of carnival were engaged in some premature celebration of his release from eight months of incarceration in a Miami detention center.

One of his outspoken allies,  Eduardo Camacho who served as the presidential spin doctor when Martinelli was still ruling “in the shoes of the people” and has since been one of his legal advisors,  even flew to fly to Miami to join his mentor at his Coral Gables mansion.

But the popping of  corks was halted when Florida Judge Marcia Cooke overturned his release on bail, and he will now face more months behind bars while his case goes to an Atlanta appeals court, and his lawyers earn their keep figuring out new ways to block his extradition to  initially face wiretapping  and embezzlement charges, and later, nearly a dozen criminal investigations.

Camacho has long labeled the investigation of alleged corruption ranging from Odebrecht to stock market manipulation via  Financial Pacific as “political persecution”, overlooking the possibility that the door may finally be starting to close on impunity, even for ex-presidents.

His Twitter  reaction was: “After knowing the incredible decision of Judge Marcia Cooke I must conclude that there is no country where the hairy hand of politics does not get involved in judicial decisions Today we understood that the only difference is that some do it in Spanish and others in English,”

 Olga De Obaldía, director of the Panamanian chapter of Transparency International, applauded the decision to keep Martinelli in jail, “Simply because the measure diminishes the risk that he will not face justice when his extradition is finally executed” she said,

In canceling bail for Martinelli  Judge Cooke opined on his flight risk that there would be an “irreparable damage” to American authorities if, after his release, Martinelli was not “available” to be extradited to Panama.

This – added s the judge – would overcome any damage that Martinelli may suffer  “who is already arrested and he will simply remain where he is. “

Meanwhile, some of his victims are reserving their champagne for the day he appears in a Panama court.

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