The weak link in the corruption trail

Many of us had already forgotten about him. More than six years without knowing anything about his life or where he chose to live is enough not to keep him in mind when one thinks of the high-profile court cases in the Ricardo Martinelli government. Adolfo Chichi De Obarrio did not leave the country for the fun of it. He lost a lot when he decided to abandon everything. He was newly married, had millions in cash, gold, real estate, and had spent a lot on his wedding and many other things, typical of a young man who discovered how easy it is to become a millionaire in the shadow of public administration.

So why did he leave? Most of his fellow officials stayed. Others, like their former boss, left the country. But self-exile can be a prison, especially for those who cannot afford the old luxuries with easy money. It’s not hard to imagine that, with his hasty departure from the country, lugging a gold bar or two in his suitcase was not an option. I imagine that he left with liquid money, but not enough to live like in Panama, much less to enjoy life like that for weeks; then months, years, more than five years.

De Obarrio accumulated wealth that could not be spent, so I wonder, who financed his family needs wherever he has been during all this time? Unlike others, his experience in the world of embezzlement was non-existent and the prospect of spending his best years behind bars aroused justifiable fear. This automatically made him a weak link. Talking wasn’t such a bad idea for him if it meant saving his skin.

But that vulnerability made him dangerous to his cronies. So while running away was an option for the young ex-official, I don’t think it was just his idea. The idea may have been suggested and even fanned out. It was much better to keep him out of the reach of the prosecutors. And Chichi, in her own way, said goodbye at a press conference. He said goodbye to everything he accumulated and bought in those golden years as a civil servant; he said goodbye to his family and his future and looked for a new one. But this week the dream ended … or rather, the nightmare suffered by those who know they are persecuted by the law.

Returning home under your current circumstances should not be pleasant. Now you will have to decide if it is your future or that of your old friends. Your freedom or theirs. Theoretically, a decision of this magnitude does not touch many minds, but since we live in Macondo, anything is possible. De Obarrio is not a big shot, but he does have a lot of compromising information, as Rafael Guardia, the PAN millionaire, had at the time. That is why I would not be surprised if more than one offers to pay for his expensive defense but in exchange for his silence.

That, in the words of President Cortizo, is a gamble. It will be up to you to decide if what you live and what you have lived is enough –  Rolando Rodriguez, LA PRENSA, April. 10