No Chavez, but no prize

摘要

From ex-president Ricardo Martinelli's 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 "Screw", which sprouted during his 2009-14 tenure. In those five years, Panama's 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. Those who championed him as a pro-business alternative to left-wing zealots like Hugo Chavez 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. In January, the Supreme Court voted to launch an investigation into his role in a corruption case involving a $45m programme to deliver dried food to poor schoolchildren. On February 3rd the prosecutor's office said that 44 people had testified as either victims or witnesses in a wire-tapping scandal. Accusations against Mr Martinelli by at least five people have been forwarded to the Supreme Court, which handles high-profile political cases.