Panama: Wikileaks Reach Panamanian Government

This post is part of our special coverage WikiLeaks and the World.

The diplomatic cables leaked by Wikileaks have wreaked havoc in global politics. Panama is not an exception. The last few weeks have been marked by scandals and suspicious behaviors of several members of the current administration. A cable that links the government party CD -Democratic Change- with the Colombian drug dealer David Murcia has triggered outrage among Panamanian citizens.

La Prensa [es] informs:

Investigaciones llevadas a cabo por este diario, así como información contenida en cables de Wikileaks entregados a La Prensa, revelan una serie de hechos que vinculan a altos cargos de la actual administración, con el colombiano convicto David Murcia Guzmán o su socio local Ernesto Chong Coronado.

The investigations carried out by this journal, as well as the information of the Wikileak cables that were shared with La Prensa, reveal that there are some facts that link the high-level position in the administration with the Colombian convict David Murcia Guzman or his partner in Panama, Ernesto Chong Colorado.

Enrique Ho Hernandez, the current head of the Aseo Urbano y Domiciliario, has apparently received money from the Colombian government. La Prensa [es] points out:

Ho, quien en las elecciones de mayo de 2009 manejó las finanzas de la campaña del hoy presidente, Ricardo Martinelli –según declaró ayer a este diario Alma Cortés–, fue citado en una asistencia judicial que pidió a Panamá un juzgado del Principado de Andorra, por presunto blanqueo de capitales, en el que se vinculaba a Chong Coronado y a su padre Ernesto Chong De León.

Ho, who was in charge of the fund-raising of the current president, Ricardo Martinelli, during his campaign on May 2009. According to what Alma Cortes declared, a Principality of Andorra court asked Panama for a summon in a legal aid due to supposed money laundering in which Chong Coronado and his father, Ernesto Chong De Leon, were involved.

Panamanian outrage is expressed through different ways. One of them is on social networks.

Meijan Adams Morales (@MeijanAdams)  believes that the unveiled information has revealed a hidden role of the current president and his administration:

Los #WikiLeaks han desenmascarado al gobierno de @rmartinelli #Panama. La verdad ha de prevalecer ante la mentira

#WikiLeaks has unmasked the government of @rmartinelli #Panama. The truth must prevail over lies!

However, Ricardo Zanetti (@ricardozanetti) thinks that it is hard to believe a man like Murcia whose business was money laundering by deceiving people:

Quien le va a creer a un tipo que su ‘negocio’ era MENTIRLE A LO PANAMEÑOS? #Panama #Murcia #Martinelli

Who's going to believe a man whose only one business was LYING TO PANAMANIANS?#Panama #Murcia #Martinelli

Diego Barria (@diegoorlandob), on the other hand, does not believe that the Wikileaks cables are true:

#panama los wikileaks es un grupo de cobardes que los ambiciosos medios utilizan para subir sus ratings! Deberian hacer las acusaciones.

#panama There are a bunch of cowards in wikileaks that the greedy media use for increasing ratings! They should accuse people in a trial.

President Ricardo Martinelli used his (@rmartinelli) to assert that those accusations were part of a conspiracy against him and his party by accusing him about every single unfortunate event.

Esta es una campana sistemática para desacreditar al cd más la gente cercana al presidente y acusarlos de todos los males del universo

This is a campaign that aims at damaging the reputation of the CD and the people closer to the president by accusing them of every single unfortunate event.

He had also written a previous tweet [es] referring to this campaign as devised by people greedy for power:

Hay una campaña orquestada para acabar con la credibilidad del gobierno. Ellos quieren el poder para olvidarse del pueblo por sus intereses

There is a devised campaign to end with the government credibility. They want power in order to forget people's interests.

Joao Q in his blog Medio Cerrado [es] expresses his anger because the president has easily accused others of his mistakes, instead of taking responsibility for them:

ya sabemos que Martinelli cada vez que puede arremete contra la izquierda (que casi ni existe en Panamá), contra el PRD (que está manga por hombro de la juventud para arriba, y para abajo también) y contra los medios (que mal que bien hacen su trabajo), pero bueno, como dice Manuel Vázquez Montalbán: Lo peor para un paranoico es que en verdad lo persigan.

We already know that every time Martinelli is able to do it, he says something against the left- the almost invisible party in Panama- against the PRD ( that has had an impact on young people) and against the media  (that in spite of the cirscunstances, it does it job) but like Manuel Vázquez Montalbán asserts: The worst thing ever for a paranoid person is to be chased for real.

Cables released by Wikileaks have shaken Panama, the dirty roles of many politicians have been unveiled and people are hungry for answers and justice.

This post is part of our special coverage WikiLeaks and the World.

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