UPDATE: Now with original documents! Hello gringo government! You thought Noriega was bad, turning the country into a branch office of the narco cartels? Think again! Our own Maximo Leader, Ricardo Martinelli, is making Panama a stronghold of the Panamanian-Italian mafia, Canal included!
Failed presidential candidate Balbina Herrera revealed emails yesterday. Super-secret correspondence between Martinelli, his private secretary and Valter Lavitola, Berlusconi's bagman who's on the run for Italian justice. And it's juicy! In an email from June 2nd of this year, for example, Lavitola starts planning who will be the next administrator of the Panama Canal (Martinelli has to appoint one next year) and that it would be nice if it was someone the "capo" likes:
Tra un agno tiene Che facer el nuevo administrador del Canal. Saria bueno empensar a piensar chi poderia esser un buen candidato e quale al capo le gustaría mas.
Lavitola, according to the emails, asked and obtained from Martinelli's private secretary Adolfo de Obarrio helicopter transport, bodyguards from the Presidential Guard, cars and other such favors reminiscent of David Murcia's glamorous lifestyle in our corrupt tropics. He also positioned himself as president of a company that would benefit from a privatization law Martinelli tried to get approved and that generated a massive strike in the public health sector.
Also, Herrera obtained a copy of the contract with Finmeccanica, for the radars and helicopters and cartography services. And now there is a big fight about how much money is actually involved. The government said $300 million - which is WAY over market value of the purchased products. The contract says less. CitiBank London was supposedly going to finance the deal - but probably not the bribes and kickbacks.
True to form, the government has now entered in panic mode and former dictatorship Noriega associate Ana Belfon Vejas, who has been recycled by Martinelli into Executive Secretary of Legal Affairs of the Presidency, is making threats that it is illegal to publish these emails and she will have those who do so prosecuted.
Hello Balbina! If the media here won't do it because they're lame, send it to us and we'll run it in full! UPDATE: We have the documents, all in PDF: Emails from/to Valter Lavitola; Agafia document; Finmeccanica insurances. Agafia, if you recall, is owned by Italian-Argentinian Gustavo Franchella and for appearances sake headed by one 23 year old bunga-girl from La Chorrera, Karen De Gracia Castro.
Meanwhile, dear reader, you may wonder where all this is gonna end? It'll end in Martinelli not finishing his term. What we're watching is the slow-motion collapse of his government, and eventually they'll all be hiding from prosecutors in various jurisdictions.
The “MAN” will soon be “El Asesor”
In addition it was always known sooner or later corruption not WW 3 would reinstitute the return of the American Canal Zone at least partially so.
Actually the $333Million was part of an almost $750Million loan by the Italian Central Bank to Panama, by way of these various companies, that Martinelli, Mulino, and other close associates control!
Is it any wonder now why the Italians would give six wore out gun ships to Panama!
They are to protect the Drug shipments and collect the cash these voyages would accumulate in their adventures patrolling the Panama canal from the Atlantic to the Pacific! But, First Panama will need a whole new set of loans to re-militarize these prize Vessels to make them sea worthy!
“Panama where the numbers never add up”
Fuck the American Canal Zone, the USA embassy in Panama put Martinelli in the power…!!!, Now we have to deal with it!!!
Martinelli was elected with a vast majority of votes. Panama has had more than a decade to show it could run the Canal professionally. Instead they’re selling it out to crooks. I don’t care who runs the Canal, as long as it’s not a Panamanian administration. The UN, Hugo Chavez, whatever.
Corruption is in every country, state, province or district around the world . There is a point in every society when the people rise up and unite as a people (not political party “Do me a favor” BS) , but true force, it’s messy, but has to happen, in order for justice and liberty to survive .
Patrol boats, planes, helicopters in almost all but not all instances most of these foreign donated vessels or aircraft are “high hours” meaning in layman’s terms close to, at or beyond their time thus major overhauls and checks are needed to maintain them in seaworthy or airworthy conditions.
I have photos in some of my CD archives showing vessels that were donated brand new via the U.S. AID program rotting away but perfectly salvageable only to rot away further for lack of any maintenance what soever if asked “we don’t have the money”.
Once again comes to mind “we have the government we deserve” and ” you can’t help those that don’t want to help themselves”
Heres a refresher course in history.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Banana_republic
I could not believe these ignorants actually use Gmail (and blackberry) for their communication. At least, that’s like putting NSA/CIA in bcc.
Juicy story. I really hope Panama finally had enough of this.
To the commentators: I have a gmail and I don’t give a damn if the CIA/NSA read my stuff. Too damn bad for them. They’ll have to prove it’s not true and proving a negative is virtually impossible. As for the ones who can’t help those who don’t want to help themselves, when your motivation is strong enough, like the Don is going to have your body parts removed before your heart is removed, you will find a way to do the preventative maintenance. It has been widely acknowledged that the reason Martinelli granted up to 10 bases to the US is that he was reminded of Noriega. He then panicked and turned to La Familia to try and help him out of his bunga-bunga. When La Familia told him that they weren’t going to take on the entire US military machine and one bitchy Secretary of State, he ask for any help they could provide. They told him they would think about it.
Il Duce’s biggest problem is that his idiot policies have begun to affect the income of the 1% of Panama. That is a sure-fire way to get yourself assassinated. Just ask the guy who went to the horse races at Juan Diaz on a bright sunny day. I think the name Remón comes to mind.