Supermarket tycoon favored in Panama vote

[rabs]

Here we go again. Another presidential election today, this time in Panama.

Looks like a conservative, pro-businessman will win, going against the lefty tide of recent years in Latin America. Panama in the past few decades has seemed to me to be more of a dollarcracy than anything else. His opponent is a luke-warm leftist who once sheltered Noriega from U.S. forces looking for him after the invasion.

======================================


By Sean Mattson PANAMA CITY (Reuters) - A supermarket tycoon with a multimillion-dollar fortune is the favorite to win Panama's presidential election on Sunday as voters look for assurances their economy can weather the global economic crisis. Pro-business conservative Ricardo Martinelli, 57, has a double-digit lead in opinion polls over ruling party leftist Balbina Herrera, who has an anti-U.S. past and old ties to a former military strongman that rankles with some voters. President Martin Torrijos' Revolutionary Democratic Party, or PRD, has strong support among lower-income voters but its popularity has sagged as prices of staples like milk and bread have soared in recent months and crime has spiked.

--------
Martinelli had a 14-point lead over Herrera in an April 23 poll and just needs to get more votes than his rival to win even if he falls short of 50 percent. A Martinelli victory would contrast with a shift to the left in much of Latin America in recent elections.

--------------
Foreign investors say they doubt either would upset Panama's economy or investment climate. "Panama is a very good place to do business. It is a very easy place to come and go, governments usually don't interfere," said Roger Khafif, the developer of the $450 million Trump Ocean Club in Panama City. "We don't really think ... whoever wins will be a detriment to our business."

http://www.panama-guide.com/article.php/20090502130547579

[Judi Lynn]

1. What a shame. This guy, Ricardo Martinelli, is slimy. Wow. Had hoped for the better man to win.

Thanks for the news the election comes today. Didn't know it was this soon.

Undoubtedly the leftist was WILDLY outspent, and without a doubt, TONS of US funding went into Ricardo Martinelli's campaign, as there's NO WAY the fascists here would ever want a leftist in that spot, no matter how many people want him.

As in the other Central American countries, Panama was undoubtedly issued a number of threats, as well, like the ones used against Guatemala, Nicaragua, etc. regarding immigration, and remmittances, and what would happen if a leftist happened to get elected.

[Bacchus39]

7. the new president replaced a leftist

so much for your analysis.

remittances??? Is there any restrictions on the amount of money Panamanians can send home? I doubt it.

[Judi Lynn]

2. Change expected as Panama votes

Page last updated at 10:30 GMT, Sunday, 3 May 2009 11:30 UK
Change expected as Panama votes

Panamanians are voting in presidential elections, with the ruling party facing a struggle to keep power.

Colourful rightist businessman Ricardo Martinelli, standing for the Democratic Change party, is favourite to win.

Correspondents say he has tapped into the concerns of the poor by promising to get tough on crime and corruption.

He has a double-digit lead in opinion polls over his centre-left rival Balbina Herrera, of the ruling Revolutionary Democratic Party (PRD).

Presidents in Panama are elected for a single, five-year term, and the incumbent, Martin Torrijos, is standing down.

~snip~
In 2006 President Torrijos won a referendum on his proposal to widen the Panama canal, and economic growth during his administration has averaged around 8.5%.

But Mr Martinelli has spent heavily on marketing, an estimated $35m, and with his wife he has crossed the country giving grants and other financial incentives to students.

More:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/8031425.stm

[rabs]

3. No surprise, looks like a done deal

By DON WINNER for Panama-Guide.com - At of 6:30 pm local time in Panama City, opposition candidate Ricardo Martinelli from the "Alliance for Change" is leading with 60% of the vote (353,237 votes) compared to Balbina Herrera with 36% of the vote (219,234 votes). "Also ran" candidate Guillermo Endara is barely registering in the returns with only 2% of the vote (15,769 votes.)

It's safe to say at this point the tendencies have been established. For this election exactly 2,211,261 Panamanians were eligible to vote. So far the early returns indicated a participation rate of about 80%, so it would be reasonable to expect about 1.7 million votes will have been cast in this election once it's all said and done.

At the time of this report at total of 588,240 votes have already been counted, or about 35% of the expected votes. Right now as I'm typing this, the spokesman from the Electoral Tribunal is calling live from the Atlapa Convention Center to Ricardo Martinelli - and he told him "this is Mag. Pinilla, the President of the Electoral Tribunal - according to the data that we have at this point, with 43% of the results counted, it is clear that you are the winner of this election." He also said "This is a clear result, and there is no doubt that Sr. Martinelli is the winner of this election."

http://www.panama-guide.com/article.php/20090503191858281

[struggle4progress]

4. Martinelli: Panama needs to adjust its U.S.-oriented trade policy

2009-05-04 08:28:56 Print

PANAMA CITY, May 3 (Xinhua) -- Ricardo Martinelli, who won Panama's presidential elections on Sunday according to preliminary results, told Xinhua that the nation needs to adjust its U.S.-oriented trade policy.

Martinelli, who is from Panama's opposition Democratic Change Party, said that some trade opportunities had been missed in Europe.

Panama should also review its relationship with China to look at the best long-term possibilities "instead of the short-term ones as we have now," he said, adding that China was the second largest user of the Panama Canal and had invested heavily in the nation ...

http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2009-05/04/content_11307021.htm

[struggle4progress]

5. Martinelli wins Panama's presidential race

Martinelli wins Panama's presidential race
Posted: 04 May 2009 0910 hrs

PANAMA CITY - Conservative multimillionaire Ricardo Martinelli was declared winner of Panama's presidential election with 43.68 percent of the votes counted, the National Electoral Board said Sunday.

The board's chairman, Erasmo Pinilla, telephoned Martinelli, of the Alliance for Change, to give him word.

"We are calling to announce to you that in accordance with the unofficial data the Electoral Board has, with 43.68 percent of the ballots counted, the board deems you to be the undisputed winner of the presidential race," Pinillatold Martinelli ... http://www.channelnewsasia.com/stories/afp_world/view/426733/1/.html

[struggle4progress]

6. Conservative supermarket tycoon wins Panama vote

... Martinelli, won runs Panama's largest supermarket chain, promises that he'll tackle crime – which ranks as the top concern of voters, according to opinion polls – as well as invest in education and infrastructure, including the $5.25 billion expansion of the Panama Canal, and prioritize a free trade agreement stalled in the US.

His policies do not differ radically from those of Ms. Herrera, who also supported free trade and foreign investment. He did say, however, that he would simplify the tax code by imposing a flat tax of between 10 and 20 percent.

Martinelli is a self-made businessman and the former minister of Panama Canal affairs. He served in both the ruling and traditional opposition parties ...

Pedro Ayola, a small business owner in Panama City who supports the PRD, says ... Herrera was unfairly pegged as a leftist. Indeed, many of those interviewed, from taxi drivers to street vendors, said they were turned off by a perceived affiliation with Venezuela's fiery leftist leader, Hugo Chávez ...

http://www.csmonitor.com/2009/0503/p06s16-woam.html

[Judi Lynn]

8. Remember what "Economic Hitman" John Perkins said about Panama's great leftist leader,

Omar Torrijos:

His job was to convince the governments of the third world countries and the banks to make deals where huge loans were given to these countries to develop infrastructure projects.

And a condition of the loan was that a large share of the money went back to the big construction companies in the USA – the Bechtels and Halliburtons.

The loans would plunge the countries into debts that would be impossible to pay off.

“The system is set up such that the countries are so deep in debt that they can’t repay their debt,” Perkins said. “When the U.S. government wants favors from them, like votes in the United Nations or troops in Iraq, or in many, many cases, their resources – their oil, their canal, in the case of Panama, we go to them and say – look, you can’t pay off your debts, therefore sell your oil at a very low price to our oil companies. Today, tremendous pressure is being put on Ecuador, for example, to sell off its Amazonian rainforest -– very precious, very fragile places, inhabited by indigenous people whose cultures are being destroyed by the oil companies.”

When a leader of a country refuses to cooperate with economic hit men like Perkins, the jackals from the CIA are called in.

Perkins said that both Omar Torrijos of Panama and Jaime Boldos of Ecuador -– both men he worked with – refused to play the game with the U.S. and both were cut down by the CIA -– Torrijos when his airplane blew up, and Roldos when his helicopter exploded, within three months of each other in 1981.

http://www.commondreams.org/views04/1119-24.htm