Panama and Nicaragua to Discuss Safe Conduct for Martinelli
By Mario De Gracia (La Estrella de Panamá)
HAVANA TIMES – The safe conduct will be discussed when the new Nicaraguan ambassador to Panama presents her credentials to the Foreign Ministry.
On Thursday, January 30, Panamanian President Jose Mulino announced that he would begin discussions about granting a safe conduct pass to former president Ricardo Martinelli, who has been sheltered in the Nicaraguan Embassy for the past 11 months.
The safe conduct issue will be addressed when the new Nicaraguan ambassador to Panama, Jessica Padilla Leiva, presents her credentials to Panama’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs in the coming days.
“Many topics that couldn’t be addressed with the previous [ambassador] will now be discussed. The safe conduct is one of them,” said Mulino when asked at a press conference.
Jessica Padilla will replace Consuelo Sandoval Mesa, who left the diplomatic post last December. Mulino did not specify the reasons why the topic could not be discussed with Sandoval, but he had previously told La Decana on December 12, 2024, that it was “not yet” the right time to grant the safe conduct.
Pressure?
On January 29, Martinelli posted on his social media that he needed surgery and that high-ranking government officials “prefer to see him dead” before the medical intervention was performed at a private medical center.
In response, Mulino stated that he “had no idea what was happening and does not communicate through tweets.” Additionally, the president clarified that the government had not received any request for Martinelli’s transfer to a hospital.
“I would not oppose a health issue, either for him [Martinelli] or anyone else,” the president concluded.
First published in Spanish by La Estrella de Panamá and translated and posted in English by Havana Times.