Ricardo Martinelli, one year in his “golden cage” in Panama
under asylum at the Nicaraguan embassy
A safe-conduct is being prepared for the former president, but analysts believe that he “doesn’t want to leave” Panama, which could lead to a rupture between the two countries.
HAVANA TIMES – Former Panamanian president Ricardo Martinelli “celebrated” his first year of asylum at the Nicaraguan Embassy in Panama with pizza, wine, and other food and drinks. The celebration is not an isolated event. With the consent of the Ortega regime, the former president turned the Nicaraguan diplomatic mission into his base of operations in the Panamanian capital.
“One year after my asylum, here I am celebrating with friends (…), but the most important thing is the company of all my friends and all of Panama,” said Ricardo Martinelli in a video posted on his Instagram account.
The former president sought refuge in the Nicaraguan embassy on February 7, 2024, five days after the Supreme Court of Justice of Panama ratified a ruling against him for money laundering. In July 2023, a court sentenced Ricardo Martinelli to ten years and six months in prison and a fine of over 19.2 million dollars.
“Mr. Martinelli entered the Nicaraguan embassy before they could catch him and take him to prison, thinking that his stay would be short,” said Lina Vega Abad, president of Transparency International in Panama.
In an interview with the program Esta Semana, the journalist also mentioned that the former president “was sure” that if his “friend (Jose Raul Mulino)” reached the presidency, he would be freed, but this did not happen because the new president “is not going to break any law to release him.”
Mulino won the presidential elections in May 2024, replacing Ricardo Martinelli, 72, as the candidate of the Realizando Metas party.
Carlos Ernesto Gonzalez, a lawyer and former Panamanian ambassador, agreed that Martinelli “thought” Mulino would break the law to free him, but since he did not: “Now (the Martinelli case) smells bad for everyone.”
“Being locked up, even in a golden cell, must not be pleasant for anyone. No matter how much Mr. (Martinelli) adapted the embassy premises, he must be very upset by this confinement. I think it’s only normal,” said Guido Rodriguez Lugari, a Panamanian lawyer and political analyst.
The former head of state turned the Nicaraguan embassy into a luxury apartment. He brought with him numerous household items, electronics, and exercise equipment. The diplomatic mission is located in a middle-class neighborhood in Panama City.
“The truth is that (the former president) owes a debt to Panamanian society, a debt he has not fulfilled even a single day in the penitentiary system,” noted Rodriguez.
The Safe-Conduct for Ricardo Martinelli
Ricardo Martinelli presents himself as “political persecuted” and a “victim” of a plot to assassinate him, although he has not presented any evidence to support this. Despite the lack of proof, the dictatorship of Daniel Ortega and Rosario Murillo accepted these claims as true and granted him asylum, also requesting a safe-conduct for his transfer to Nicaragua due to the “imminent risk to his life, physical integrity, and safety.”
The administration of Laurentino Cortizo (2019-2024) rejected the request for the safe-conduct because the former president is a convicted criminal in Panama.
According to Mulino’s government, the safe-conduct has not been requested again, although the Panamanian president said this topic would be discussed with the new Nicaraguan ambassador to Panama, Jessica Padilla Leiva.
“We will address many topics that couldn’t be addressed with the previous ambassador. Now we will address them. The safe-conduct is one of them,” Mulino said in a press conference on January 30, 2025.
The president did not explain why he could not address the issue with the previous ambassador, Consuelo Sandoval Meza, who resigned from the position in December 2024.
“Martinelli’s asylum has been an uncomfortable topic for both the outgoing government (of Cortizo) and the government of President Mulino,” emphasized Eliseo Núñez, a Nicaraguan political analyst.
“The best thing — he continued — that a government can do with someone as uncomfortable as Martinelli, who enjoys some popularity in Panama, is to give him the safe-conduct and let him deal with his own problem outside of Panama.”
Former President “Doesn’t Want to Leave” Panama
Both Panamanian and Nicaraguan analysts agreed that Mulino has already decided to grant Martinelli the safe-conduct, although it remains to be seen whether the former president will travel to Nicaragua.
“It is a complicated situation because Martinelli doesn’t want to leave (Panama), he doesn’t want to accept a safe-conduct,” said Lina Vega.
“If Panama gives him a safe-conduct to leave, but he doesn’t want to leave. What is the next thing that should happen? Initially, a break in relations between Panama and Nicaragua,” explained the president of Transparency International in Panama.
“If he refuses to leave the embassy, we don’t know what will happen. Whether he will leave willingly, we don’t know either. It’s an uncertainty,” she added.
Carlos González pointed out that the upcoming meeting between Mulino and the new Nicaraguan ambassador will “have a direct impact” on the relations between the two countries.
“Initially, if Panama grants him the safe-conduct to take Martinelli out, (the Ortega-Murillo regime) is obliged to take him. Otherwise, I suspect that the Panamanian government would break relations with Nicaragua or begin a process to pressure Nicaragua for violating asylum agreements,” warned the former diplomat.
The Cortizo Government sent several “protest notes” to the Nicaraguan Foreign Ministry regarding Martinelli’s “political-partisan” actions at the diplomatic mission, as they are “illegal according to international law.”
In December 2024, Panamanian Foreign Minister Javier Martínez-Acha summoned the then-ambassador Sandoval Meza to express his “concern about the statements being made from inside the embassy” and requested that the embassy not become a “center of political meetings” and “only” limit itself to its asylum responsibilities.
Impact on Diplomatic Relations
President Mulino went further than his foreign minister’s statements, assuring that the summons to the ambassador was the “first warning” to the regime in Nicaragua.
“In diplomatic language, when you call an ambassador to the Foreign Ministry, it’s because the issue is serious (and) yes, it is,” stated the president in a press conference on December 12, 2024.
“Now, with Nicaragua, we are dealing with a country that has neither God nor Law. You have to understand that we are not working with a regular country that respects international law; they don’t respect international law, domestic law, or any law in Nicaragua,” said the president.
Gonzalez assessed that relations between Panama and Nicaragua are “frozen,” though he emphasized that Mulino, due to his closeness to Martinelli, “has not taken stronger measures, thus keeping the issue in limbo.”
Eliseo Núñez said that even without the asylum granted to Martinelli, relations between Panama and Nicaragua “would not be the best,” as there is “a total incompatibility between Ortega and Mulino, who is a democrat through and through.”
He stated that “Ortega only has good relations with Venezuela and Cuba,” while with the rest of Latin American countries, he maintains “a rather torturous relationship,” and the asylum granted to Martinelli “only worsened” relations with Panama.
Nicaraguan migrants living in Panama send over 56 million dollars annually in remittances, according to data from the Central Bank of Nicaragua (BCN). Panama is the fourth-largest source of remittances to Nicaragua.
What has the regime gained from granting asylum to Ricardo Martinelli?
The Nicaraguan analyst commented that Ortega and Murillo believed they would “gain some advantages” with Mulino, but “this did not happen.” “Perhaps the only benefit (of granting asylum to Ricardo Martinelli) is that they consolidate as a refuge for corrupt individuals, and the demand for this increases, which is not bad for them as it brings them economic advantages.”
Ricardo Martinelli joined a list of over 130 political allies and fugitives from justice who have found shelter in Nicaragua, and in most cases, obtained Nicaraguan nationality to avoid extradition.
Several of these naturalization processes were carried out in violation of Nicaraguan immigration laws, according to an analysis by Confidencial based on resolutions from the General Directorate of Migration and Foreigners (DGME).
Among these “refugees” are former Salvadoran presidents, ex-Honduran and Guatemalan officials, Russian scientists, and diplomats with aligned views.
“The big mystery is what the Nicaraguan government has gained because Martinelli is not an ideological ally of the Nicaraguan dictatorship. In his case — the former Panamanian diplomat said — all these things usually have to be explained with money for someone.”
In their public speeches, Ortega and Murillo have never referred to the situation of the former Panamanian president or explained the motivations for granting him asylum. The Nicaraguan Foreign Ministry has only issued two statements in February 2024 to inform about the asylum and protested the safe-conduct denial. Meanwhile, Ricardo Martinelli has used his social media to thank the “selfless support” of the dictatorial couple.
“Today I am alive thanks to the humanitarian decision of President Daniel Ortega of Nicaragua and Vice President Rosario Murillo, who saved my life by granting me political asylum,” Martinelli posted on his social media on July 19, 2024, when the 45th anniversary of the Sandinista Revolution was commemorated.
First published in Spanish by Confidencial and translated and posted in English by Havana Times.