Martinelli still awaiting White House invitation

While government sources say that Panama is still on good terms with the U.S. administration The New York Times has listed Ricardo Martinelli as one of the presidents with questionable performance regarding corruption.

Other leaders on the list included the heads of African countries such as Guinea and Sierra Leone.

Martinelli is the first Panamanian president since the fall of the military dictatorship to not be invited to the White House, despite numerous trips to Washington and while the government is paying $30,000 a month to a Washington lobbying firm to help push the free trade agreement with Panama, it remains stalled.

"There is no reason to believe that there will be less corruption in this government that in any past governments," the newspaper said, quoting documents from the U.S. embassy in Panama.
Aníbal Culiolis, of the Partido Popular, said documents released by Wikipedia confirm the concerns of U.S. officials about the undemocratic behavior of the Panamanian president.