The singer-songwriter Rubén Blades  has described former president Ricardo Martinelli’s reaction to the 36-month prison sentence handed down last week in New York to Luis Enrique and Ricardo Martinelli Linares as “cynical and shameless”

The two convicted confessed to having received and laundered $28 million in bribes from Odebrecht, for the benefit of a "close relative" who turned out to be their father

"Ricardo Martinelli’s office released a statement stating that the father's concern was always to get the defense attorneys to do the best possible job 'under the circumstances and that is why he was satisfied with their work, which seems cynical to me and shameless attempt to put a positive spin on what is clearly a disaster: two sons imprisoned for serving as intermediaries for the father's corruption," Blades wrote in a brief titled " About the ruling of May 20, 2022, and  Martinelli ”, posted on rubenblades.com.

He added that it is likely that there is already a "sealed indictment" against the former president, his accomplices, former ministers "and his entire financial structure", awaiting the "right moment" to be publicly announced by the US authorities.

Seeking armor
Martinelli did not attend the children's trial and remained in Panama at all times, a country that, by constitutional mandate, does not extradite its nationals. For all this, Blades anticipates that the former president would be looking for "some type of armor", even through an eventual alliance with the PRD.

Blades is surprised that Martinelli has not explained to the country how his sons got help from his cabinet ministers to commit the crimes or why he has been publicly identified as the corrupt recipient of Odebrecht bribes.

He also anticipated that Martinelli and his companies, partnerships, and associates would be included in the US Treasury Department's Clinton List.

The United States prohibits its citizens and companies from carrying out financial or commercial transactions with anyone who is listed on Clinton.