Monica Palm whose daily column in La Prensa uses former president Ricardo Martinelli as a frequent  target is on vacation, but before lowering her sights she aimed some withering grapeshot in his direction.

“As many will remember, in the Wikileaks cables, former ambassador Bárbara Stephenson harshly questioned Ricardo Martinelli, warning that “his tendency to harass and blackmail may have led him to stardom in the world of supermarkets, but it is hardly like a statesman. ” and that he “made no distinction between legitimate targets and political enemies.” She said Martinelli asked for help conducting wiretaps and threatened to expel the DEA if they didn't comply. That was 11 years ago and now you will be able to find out if time proved Stephenson, who has already retired from the diplomatic service and is vice chancellor for global affairs at the University of North Carolina, right. The former president, on the other hand, could not even visit that campus, even if he wanted to.”

MARTINELLI makes no secret of his scant affection for any authority other than his own. That, which in itself is bad, gets worse when it goes from words to deeds. For example, he has sued Tania Sterling the anti-corruption prosecutor in the Odebrecht case,  several times. In one of the complaints, he claims $10 million for alleged "moral, psychological, commercial, business, social, family and political damage." Yes… “family injury”, you did not read wrong.

He demanded $20 million from Isabel de Saint Malo de Alvarado, because the Foreign Ministry sent the request for his extradition to the United States, in 2016. He also sued Harry Díaz and Jerónimo Mejía, prosecutor and guarantee judge, in the puncture case, and Kenya Porcell, who had to post a bond of $150,000 to stop the seizure of her assets. More recently, she denounced María Eugenia López Arias, President of the Court, because -according to him- she altered the hearing schedule so that the puncture trial would be held in 2021.

Of course, he had to add Baloisa Marquínez, the judge in the Odebrecht and New Business cases, to that list. He has even said that it is “worse than Covid-19”. But that's not the most worrying thing.

LAST Tuesday, two days before the New Business preliminary hearing, an Instagram account called @ricardomartinelli_politica published an (alleged) photo of Marquínez with the following text: “They tell me this is the inquisitorial judge who says no to everything. For her, there is no law, Constitution, codes, or international treaties. Her mission is to condemn and destroy the country. Keep it up @nitocortizo and @gabycarrizo, they're doing well. They tell me her husband has 'transportation' and that beauties will come out there... they say her name is Baloisa Martínez (sic) from Las Lajas de Chiriquí. Matito the deceased, before he died, left behind many things that will serve and are frightening”.

“So what?”  writes Palm. “Well, according to article 388 of the Penal Code, any mortal who threatens, intimidates, hinders or impedes the performance of official duties by an official of the Judicial Branch or the Public Prosecutor's Office could be sentenced to 5 to 10 years in prison. Nothing that a personal army of lawyers, a medical disability book, and the property title of a political party cannot solve. That way no one who tries to blackmail an authority will worry if they do it openly and in writing.