Martinelli got Pegasus in exchange for votes for Israel – NYT

According to an investigation published by The New York Times journalists, Ronen Bergman and Mark Mazzetti, former president Ricardo Martinelli would have bought the Pegasus spy system, from the Israeli company NSO, in 2010, after having taken office with the aim of “spying on political opponents and threats to the country.”

Bergman and Mazzetti indicate that the reports, which they were able to access, indicate that the former president’s original idea was to buy software that would allow him to hack the BlackBerry instant messaging system, better known as BBM, which was the most popular in the country in that period.

The details obtained by the newspaper, through a leak of a Wikileaks cable, indicate that once Martinelli took office, he tried to persuade United States diplomats present in the country, with his anti-corruption speech, to obtain equipment of vigilance. At the time, the response from the US government was negative, as they stated that they ” would not be part of any effort to promote wiretapping against national politicians.“

That is why, according to the investigation, Martinelli traveled to Israel in 2010 – where the headquarters of the NSO company, owner of the Pegasus system, is located.

It was one of his first trips outside the continent, which he classified as a “learning trip”, but which, according to the journalists who carried out the investigation, would have been used as “a surveillance equipment shopping trip”.

More details indicate that one of the people present at a private meeting between Martinelli and the former Prime Minister of Israel, Benjamin Netanyahu, reported that the main reason for the meeting would have been the military and surveillance equipment that the former Panamanian president wanted to buy from the Israeli suppliers, in exchange for votes for Israel in the United Nations.

It was two years after th meeting, in 2012, that the Israeli company NSO allegedly offered, sold, and installed Martinelli Berrocal one of the most sophisticated tools designed to carry out his interests.

The investigation adds details about the statement of the former analyst of the National Security Council of Panama, Ismael Pitty, in the hearings for telephone interceptions, who would have confirmed that the equipment allegedly sold by the Israeli company NSO to Martinelli, was used to extend the “ surveillance” against political opponents, businessmen, union leaders, and Panamanian and foreign business competitors, who after being questioned by the prosecutors who investigated the case denounced that he had also used it for personal interests.

According to data from The New York Times, everything would have ended when Martinelli finished his term, in 2014. The moment he left the country when the investigations began.

The information comes to light in publications made by the American medium about the NSO company and its Pegasus spyware, its relationship with the United States, the Israeli government and other countries. A system that in principle the United States government bought and promoted, but now prohibits.