Martinelli ushered in era of corruption in Panama

When supermarket billionaire Ricardo Martinelli was elected president  of Panama in 2009, he promised in his inaugural speech, an end to corruption and said that his administration might make mistakes, but there would be no thievery.

Instead, he ushered  in an era of  alleged bribery and theft from the public purse unmatched since the fall of the military dictatorship in 1989, with direct contracts fluttering out of the presidency like  flakes in an early snowfall,  blackened with grime before they reached the ground.

Source: Newsroom Panama