Martinelli will travel on official mission to Ecuador

[Judi Lynn]

Panamá, domingo 8 de mayo de 2011
Martinelli will travel on official mission to Ecuador

Representatives of the Governments of Ecuador and Panama carried out a meeting in the Central-American nation to review the bilateral agenda and prepare for Panamanian President Ricardo Martinelli's official visit to Quito on May 13, informed an official source.

The agenda discussions formed part of the “First Meeting of the Political Consultation Mechanism” between the delegations of the foreign ministries of both countries, which began this past Thursday in Panama City.

Deputy Foreign Minister of Panama, Álvaro Alemán Healy, and Deputy Minister of Trade and Economic Integration of Ecuador, Francisco Rivadeneira, signed the final minutes of the meeting with the topics the two-day session.

This gathering was a prelude to the visit to Ecuador by Martinelli, scheduled for next week, and with a view towards both delegations "strengthening and deepening bilateral ties, trade, and migration," expressed the Foreign Ministry of Panama in a statement.

More:
http://mensual.prensa.com/mensual/contenido/2011/05/08/hoy/english/economy_7082.asp

http://worldbadnews.com.nyud.net:8090/world-bad-news/wp-content/uploads/2010/12/story.panama.martinelli.jpg http://www.france24.com.nyud.net:8090/en/files/imagecache/aef_ct_wire_image/images/afp/photo_1303931337310-1-0.jpg http://www.digitaljournal.com.nyud.net:8090/img/8/7/3/i/5/0/8/o/RicardoMartinelli.jpg

Ricardo Martinelli, Panama.

http://www.blogcdn.com.nyud.net:8090/noticias.aollatino.com/media/2010/04/rafael-correa-200vm040710.jpg http://nimg.sulekha.com.nyud.net:8090/others/original700/rafael-correa-2010-12-8-16-31-51.jpg

Ecuador's President, Rafael Correa.

[Peace Patriot]

1. Thanks for the pix! First I've seen of Martinelli--an Alvaro Uribe crony.

He is probably the second most corrupt politician in Latin America (after Uribe).

I wonder what's on the table for this meeting in Ecuador. But where I'd really like to be a "fly on the wall" is when Martinelli reports to his handlers at the CIA.

[Judi Lynn]

2. Memory refresher on his attempt to get help wire-tapping his opponents, like Uribe:

Panama government denies asking U.S. to wiretap political foes
Posted: Thursday, December 30, 2010 - By EFE

~snip~
“He clearly made no distinction between legitimate security targets and political enemies,” Stephenson said in a Aug. 22, 2009, report to Washington about Martinelli’s request for wiretapping assistance from the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration, which has a large operation in Panama.

Complaining of Martinelli’s “bullying style” and “autocratic tendencies,” she said the Panamanian leader’s “near-obsession with wiretaps betrays a simplistic and naive attitude toward the criminal investigative process.”

“We will not be party to any effort to expand wiretaps to domestic political targets,” Stephenson told Martinelli, according to the cable.

The ambassador wrote in her report to the State Department that she got the impression Martinelli was implicitly threatening to cut back on anti-drug cooperation if the U.S. government did not assist with the wiretaps.

More:
http://www.ticotimes.net/News/News-Briefs/Panama-government-denies-asking-U.S.-to-wiretap-political-foes_Thursday-December-30-2010

http://www.panamabusinessandtravel.com.nyud.net:8090/images/martinelli-stephenson.jpg

http://www.newsroompanama.com.nyud.net:8090/images/stories/-%201%20ba.jpg

Ambassador Stephenson, Ricardo Martianelli