PANAMA CITY (AP) — The front-runner to become Panama's next president is a last-minute replacement who promises to return the Central American country to booming times, but experts say it will be difficult to bring him back. There is.
Maritime lawyer and former security minister Jose Raúl Mulino has been promoted as the top presidential candidate following a decision by Panama's election authorities. Former President Ricardo Martinelli He was found guilty of money laundering and disbarred after being sentenced.
Although he lacks Martinelli's charisma and mass appeal, with the benefit of vocal support from the supermarket giants, Mulino has a strong lead in a crowded field of eight candidates ahead of the May 5 election. Maintaining a healthy lead.
The remaining factions include Ricardo Lombana and Romulo Lu, as well as former president Martín Torrijos, two candidates who have run in previous elections. According to recent opinion polls, all three are effectively tied for second place behind Mulino. Mulino was absent from all three presidential debates..
Mulino is campaigning on a promise to create and prevent jobs. Migration through Panama's Darien JungleMore than 500,000 people trekked last year. This message resonated with voters who are tired of the country's political system but nostalgic for a time when the economy was strong.
But Panama has not experienced the growth it experienced during Martinelli's presidency from 2009 to 2014, and experts expect the economy to slow next year.
The cause of the economic slowdown is the Supreme Court's ruling that declared unconstitutional a bill that granted 20-year concessions to large copper mines. The decision came after weeks of street protests by broad segments of Panamanian society shaken by concerns about access to water. In the midst of an alarming drought — and nationalist fervor over dealing with Canadian mining companies.
The prolonged drought has also reduced traffic on the Panama Canal, the country's key economic engine.
There are constitutional objections to Mulino's candidacy, as he was not selected in a party primary and does not have a running mate. The Supreme Court has not said when it will rule on the challenge.
Mr. Mulino's growing candidacy unfolded as Mr. Martinelli's own legal saga unfolded.
Mr Martinelli, already banned by the US government, was convicted of money laundering in Panama last July, and election authorities disqualified him from the election in March this year, replacing Mr Mulino as head of the Achievement Party. pushed him to the position of
By that time Martinelli had already The Nicaraguan embassy was barricaded.He fled there as Panamanian authorities planned to take him into custody to complete his 10-year sentence.
From behind the walls of the embassy, Martinelli appealed for Mulino on social media platforms, enraging the Panamanian government for refusing Nicaragua's request to leave the country.
“Most Panamanians are angry and resentful of the political class in this country,” said Michael Shifter, adjunct professor of Latin American studies at Georgetown University. “Mr. Mulino benefits from Mr. Martinelli's image and the perception that the country became better during the former president's term.”
Mulino hasn't forgotten that fact either. He is rarely seen wearing a blue Martinelli Mulino 2024 cap and has pledged to support Mr Martinelli if elected.
At a recent campaign rally outside Panama City, Mulino emphasized his message of bringing a “government of hope and jobs” to Panama. Because we will work, work, work and restore and strengthen trust and confidence in our institutions. our democracy. ”
“Mr. Mulino is the man who will save the country from the scourge of crime and the depression of lack of employment,” said Adriano Cueto Valencia, a 61-year-old worker who was walking with Mr. Mulino in a working-class neighborhood. . capital.
Fidedinha Perez, a 73-year-old retiree who lives with her son, agreed. “This guy is serious. People think he's arrogant, but I know he can lower food prices and help the poor. That's why Martinelli made him his candidate. Noda.”
Mulino says that while he was security minister in Martinelli's government, he succeeded in driving out the now-defunct Colombian Revolutionary Armed Forces guerrilla group from Panamanian territory along the Darien jungle, which is shared with Colombia. But experts say this was the period when the illegal trade in drugs and weapons picked up, and the number of migrants crossing the border began to increase.
Mr. Mulino nevertheless promised to stop immigration, which reached a historic high of more than 500,000 people last year, without providing details.
“We are going to close Darien and repatriate all these people with respect for human rights,” Mulino said at a recent election event. Panamanian authorities, with support from the U.S. government, made similar claims more than a year before the number of railroad crossings doubled again.
Mulino was also heavily criticized in 2010, when he was security minister, for violently suppressing protests by indigenous banana plantation workers in two provinces. Two people were killed and more than 100 injured.
“There are too many unknowns for Mr. Mulino,” said Rodrigo Noriega, political analyst and columnist for La Prensa newspaper. “Anti-corruption issues, (suppression of) social protests…and Ricardo Martinelli's soft response to corruption issues.”
