‘Martyr’ Martinelli-CIA link fallout builds

As the fallout from  Ricardo Martinelli’s latest ploy to evade justice continues, a specialist in foreign policy warns that the former president violated the Criminal Code and international law, by confessing that he followed instructions from the CIA.

A letter that Martinell sent from his Miami prison cell   “to the Government and the American people” has generated outrage in some sectors of society, reports La Prensa.

Many  agree that the four-page note in which he  confesses that I have served “100%” the interests of the United States, among other matters, is “Shameful”

Others warn that he would have violated the Criminal Code, which punishes acts for subordinating the Republic of Panama to a foreign state the violation of State secrets and the failure to represent the interests of Panama before another State.

The analyst and professor of international relations Julio Yao says  that Martinelli’s note

” blemishes the image of the country,” because it is “extremely shameful that heads of state declare publicly that they are or were at the service of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA).

“That is a violation of international law and the Constitution,  a very serious crime and a breach of ethics, “he said.

In his letter, Martinelli reveals that on instructions from the CIA he interrupted the transit through the Canal of the North Korean ship Chong Chon Gang, on July 10, 2013. The ship, which came from Cuba, allegedly had weapons hidden under tons of sugar.

According to Yao, with that confession, he would have violated the treaty of interoceanic neutrality.

In the letter he describes himself as   “politically persecuted”,   a “martyr” and victim of a “vendetta”.

Ernesto Pérez Balladares, president of Panama 1994 – 1999, said: “If he is politically persecuted, why did not he go to Italy?[Martinelli has an Italian passport]. Could it be that in Italy they have opened some little boxes that could mean a trial and possible jail over there for Finmeccanica and the other things? He is not politically persecuted. He is a person who during his presidency did things that he now has to face” said Balladares.

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