We didn’t forget about you

The Panamanian government has officially requested former president Ricardo Martinelli's extradition from the United States where he is believed to be hiding out in the Miami area. Martinelli is alleged to have engaged in a variety of illegal actions during his term as president of Panama, including using public money to spy on his political enemies. Martinelli claims that the charges against him are part of a political vendetta.


Martinelli has also been accused of having been involved in several other corruption schemes, some of which I mentioned in last year's Freedom House report. While there are always political considerations when pursuing charges against former presidents, I do think that Central American prosecutions against former leaders of the left and the right are important symbolically. Now it is up to the US government to act on Panama's extradition request.