Former President Ricardo Martinelli, facing trial for allegedly spying on 150 opponents, with up to to a dozen corruption investigations waiting in the wings said on Friday, April 26, that he will continue to be a  force in local politics and will be president in 2024. 

Through a video posted on social networks by his attorney and spin doctor Luis Eduardo Camacho Jr., Martinelli who was declared unable to run for the mayor said he will seek the presidential candidacy for the 2024  elections.

"This makes me stronger, and makes me more humble, and we're going to be president again in 2024. We'll be back!" He said in the brief message. 

Martinelli was transferred on Friday the morning of this Friday to the accusatory criminal system (SPA), in Plaza Ágora, when the decision of the magistrates of the Electoral Court  that he could not run for mayor was released,

He arrived at the SPA shouting "electoral fraud".