{"id":12606,"date":"2015-02-10T11:48:48","date_gmt":"2015-02-10T16:48:48","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/panamaadvisoryinternationalgroup.com\/blog\/?p=12606"},"modified":"2015-02-10T11:50:38","modified_gmt":"2015-02-10T16:50:38","slug":"no-chavez-but-no-prize","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/panamaadvisoryinternationalgroup.com\/blog\/no-chavez-but-no-prize\/","title":{"rendered":"No Ch\u00e1vez, but no prize"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"doing<\/a><\/p>\n

Here is a good story from The Economist of the scandal in Panama or as they say, an ex-president’s colorful tale.<\/p>\n

FROM ex-president Ricardo Martinelli\u2019s plush 43rd-floor offices overlooking the shorefront of Panama City, the view is good. Below is a Ferrari distributor; nearby are flamboyant skyscrapers, such as a twisted green one known as the \u201cScrew\u201d, which sprouted during his 2009-14 tenure. In those five years, Panama\u2019s growth averaged a blistering 8%, the best in Latin America, though debt also ballooned. A supermarket millionaire, Mr Martinelli touted his country as the Latin Singapore.<\/p>\n

Those who championed him as a pro-business alternative to left-wing zealots like Hugo Ch\u00e1vez of Venezuela are thinking again. Seven months after stepping down from office, he has left the country on his private jet, amid accusations that his government ran a corruption and political-espionage racket. He denies wrongdoing.<\/p>\n