Narco-ambassador Willy Cochez
Today, Panama has to appear before the Inter American Comission for Human Rights which is holding a hearing on the way the justice system is being managed by the Martinelli government.
Topics include - but are most likely not limited to - the dubious stacking of the Supreme Court with Martinelli yes-men, and the illegal way Attorney General Ana Matilde Gomez was removed from her post and her constitutional rights violated, just because she investigated a corrupt prosecutor who was running an extortion ring. Gomez, who can't leave the country, was refused a permit to attend the hearing, which no doubt will generate more difficult questions from the commissioners to the Panama delegation.
So who are in that delegation? Two names catch the eye. One is Guillermo Cochez, Panama's ambassador to the Organization of American States. His claim to fame is that he accepted donations from narco kingpin Steven Ramos when he was running for mayor of Panama City. The other is that of Geomara Jones, the wife of Carlos Jones, who has a history of dubious dealings and was suspended by the Attorney General for obstructing justice.
With a team like that, how can Martinelli possibly lose? The answer is that this government doesn't give a flying fuck. They don't care about the law or the constitution back home - even Barbie Maytín of the slow class is now worried about that - so why would they worry about OAS charters, international treaties, possible fines, or Panama's image abroad as a rogue supermarket nation?