While his spokesmen continue to chant their “political persecution” mantra  and he endeavors to play the  frequently  discredited “poor health” card [which once included a  terminal cancer claim] ex-president Ricardo Martinelli has held two meetings to   in El Renacer  prison in the  last 15 days to explore an  agreement in the  wiretapping case   in which the prosecutor  is calling for  a 21 year jail term report La Prensa and TVN.

the PRD leader Mitchell Doens - representing a group of plaintiffs- confirmed that the meetings were held after Martinelli  sent them a note and asked for an "approach."

Carlos Herrera Morán, lawyer of Doctor Mauro Zúñiga - a victim of the taps- said he would  not to be in favor of an eventual agreement with the ex-president

Herrera Morán said that  Martinelli  had previously proposed to meet with the complainants and claimed to have serious health problems. According to Herrera Morán, it was a strategy to delay the process.

 Unnecessary
He said  that an agreement would be unnecessary at this stage since the parties presented all their evidence and the judge of guarantees, Jerónimo Mejía, convened a hearing for the 19th of this month, in which he will announce which he will admit if the former president is finally sent to trial

Rosendo Rivera also said he was skeptical about reaching an agreement with Martinelli but

acknowledged that on this occasion there is already a confidentiality agreement between the parties, not  to reveal anything about the content of the proposals for a possible agreement. He said that was a condition that Martinelli put.

The meetings of the complainants and Martinelli are not new says La Prensa. The first dates from October and November 2017, when his lawyers proposed a possible agreement with the complainants, claiming that their client had terminal cancer; There was even talk of a group of victims making a trip to the jail in Miami, where Martinelli was being held while awaiting extradition.

Then, in July of this year, one month after Martinelli's extradition to the country, there were at least two rapprochement meetings between the ex-ruler and the plaintiffs. On that occasion, the complainants Balbina Herrera, Mitchell Doens, Carlos Herrera Morán, and Rosendo Rivera confirmed the meetings.

The complainants said that Martinelli would plead guilty to the wiretapping and would get seven years in prison. The victims would receive a  multi-million dollar compensation

Alma Cortés, lawyer of Martinelli, also requested an appointment with prosecutor Harry Diaz, to explore a sentence agreement, but Diaz put as a condition that he had to announce that request during the accusation hearing. that was developing at the time. He  requested in his indictment 21 years in prison .