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C O N F I D E N T I A L PANAMA 000316 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 04/15/2019 
TAGS: ECON PGOV PM PREL
SUBJECT: PANAMA: MARTINELLI PLAYS PRESIDENT TO FRIENDLY 
CROWD 
 
Classified By: Classified by Ambassador Barbara J. Stephenson, for reas 
ons 1.4(b) and (d). 
 
------- 
Summary 
------- 
 
¶1. (C) The Foundation for the Development of Citizen Liberty, 
Panama's Transparency International (TI) chapter, hosted an 
untelevised "Presidential Candidates Forum" on April 14. 
Though dubbed as a forum for both leading candidates, only 
Alliance for Change presidential candidate Ricardo Martinelli 
showed.  Ruling Revolutionary Democratic Party (PRD) 
presidential candidate Balbina Herrera, trailing Martinelli 
in the polls by 15 points, cited a previous engagement and 
pulled out of the forum.  An at-ease Martinelli had the stage 
to himself and fielded soft-ball questions from the 
Foundation's moderators in front of an audience stacked with 
candidates from Martinelli's own Democratic Change (CD) 
party.  Martinelli largely reiterated his standard talking 
points to this very friendly crowd and did little to shed 
light on his plans to transition the Alliance for Change 
campaign team into a governing apparatus.  End summary. 
 
-------------------- 
Martinelli love-fest 
-------------------- 
 
¶2. (SBU) "It is a shame that Herrera chose not to come today, 
because her government plan is short on anti-corruption 
plans, and this would be a good chance to hear what she plans 
to do about it," announced Angelica Maytin, Executive 
President of Panama's chapter of Transparency International 
(TI), after explaining that a "prior commitment" had forced 
Herrera to cancel.  Martinelli faced a very friendly crowd 
that broke into applause three times -- POL estimates that 
two-thirds of the 100 attendees were CD candidates for 
various offices -- and was not challenged by any of the 
questions. 
 
¶3. (SBU) TI Panama Chapter President and moderator Roberto 
"Bobby" Eisenmann, a former leader of the anti-Noriega Civil 
Crusade and a die-hard anti-PRD independent, requested that 
Martinelli speak "as if the campaign were over, you do not 
have to worry about votes, and you are sitting in the 
president's chair and must now govern the country."  A 
relaxed Martinelli, dressed casually in khakis and a 
button-down campaign shirt proceeded to carry on a 
conversation with the moderators that was more collegial than 
revealing.  Martinelli worked his accustomed territory; he 
jabbed at PRD shortcomings in poverty reduction ("Just five 
minutes from here, there are communities without running 
water") and education ("The school-buildings are falling 
apart, classes started weeks late.").  He noted that 
Herrera's proposal to require visas of Colombian citizens in 
an effort to reduce crime was misguided and would be 
ineffectual, re-iterated his commitment to repeal the 
Torrijos Administration's security sector reform laws, and 
plugged his own "integral" approach to crime, the Safe 
Streets (Calles Seguras) program.  Martinelli asserted that 
civil society would play an expanded role in his 
administration and explained that he did not participate in 
the National Dialogue for Development (Concertacion Nacional 
para el Desarollo) because he felt that there were too many 
"disguised" PRD loyalists involved in the process.  (Note: 
The Concertacion produced in 2007 a document written by 
government officials and leaders of civil society, business, 
and religious groups advocating proposals to overcome 
societal inequities.  It is widely referenced as a solid 
long-term development strategy. Eisenmann noted that 
Martinelli's running mate and president of the Panamenista 
Party, Juan Carlos Varela did participate in the Concertacion 
process.) 
 
------------------------------------- 
Connecting the dots with Papadimitriu 
------------------------------------- 
 
¶4. (SBU) Martinelli's comments were peppered with references 
to the U.S., including admiration for President Obama's new 
conflict of interest guidelines that bar new officials from 
making policy on matters involving former employers or from 
working at an agency that they had lobbied within the last 
two years.  When Eisenmann asked how he would control his 
cabinet ("Unlike in the U.S. -- where the Secretaries serve 
the President -- here, once someone is a Minister they start 
 
thinking about becoming President themselves."), Martinelli 
replied that he had to have people he could trust and who can 
work together.  He referred to Steve Jobs' (CEO of Apple 
Computers) "connect the dots" explanation of his own success 
wherein seemingly disparate elements come together to form a 
bigger picture or accomplishment.  Building on this thought, 
Martinelli confirmed the wide speculation that his chief 
adviser Jimmy Papadimitriu would indeed serve as his Minster 
of the Presidency in the event that he won the election.  A 
slightly more surprising announcement from Martinelli was 
that Papadimitriu would also simultaneously serve as 
Martinelli's chief of staff. 
 
---------------------------------- 
Top down change, that's the ticket 
---------------------------------- 
 
¶5. (SBU) "Panama's is a presidentialist system, if you put 
someone at the top who wants the government to work well -- 
and cleanly -- then it will.  I want to have the cleanest 
government in the world, and the only way to change it is to 
change the head," said Martinelli in response to a question 
on whether he would succeed in bringing more accountability 
to the government.  He further noted that the CD party was 
"working hard" to win a majority in the National Assembly, 
but also asserted that he would revise the Assembly's budget 
and the privileges that deputies enjoy in a push for more 
accountability.  He went on to promise to bring to justice 
anyone found complicit in corruption, including members of 
his own government. 
 
------- 
Comment 
------- 
 
¶6. (C) Rather than presenting direct policy questions, the 
moderators lobbed soft-ball, open-ended questions, to which 
Martinelli responded by re-treading well-worn territory: his 
rhetoric of "change" and responsible, renewed leadership. 
Martinelli's "change the head" statement summarizes his 
approach to the campaign; his appeals to reform and change 
are largely couched in terms of his image as a strong, 
independent leader who "owes no one" and therefore has the 
freedom to make bold, common-sense, and positive changes. 
But the gab session shed scant additional light on how he 
will approach appointments and the business of governing 
without an established party apparatus.  Where he did state a 
position -- for example, in his reiteration of his intention 
to repeal the security reform laws which created the Frontier 
Force (SENAFRONT) we regard as essential to denying the 
Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) safe haven in 
the Darien -- we in the embassy were hardly reassured that 
his "pro-American" label will carry through on issues of 
importance to us.  Likewise, Martinelli has not answered the 
key question of how he plans to strike a balance among his 
Alliance partners and turn his (to date) successful campaign 
partnership into a feasible governing team.  (Note: 
Martinelli's campaign website now features a page where 
job-seekers can enter their resumes to be considered for 
positions in the "Government for Change.")  Post expects that 
Martinelli would need to confront conflicting interests and 
political ambitions across the five parties that make up his 
Alliance for Change if his ticket wins the election. 
 
¶7. (C) Papadimitriu would probably serve unofficially as a 
presidential chief of staff, a position with little prior 
history in Panama.  Rather then creating the position, 
Martinelli would likely appoint Papadimitriu to be Minister 
of the Presidency.  Regardless of title, Papadimitriu will 
continue to serve as Martinelli's leading overall go-to guy 
in the campaign and beyond.  While Papadimitriu has fulfilled 
Martinelli's campaign needs, he has never served in the 
government; serving a dual role of Minister of the Presidency 
and chief of staff may prove to be more than he can chew. 
While we have warm relations with Papadimitriu, who is 
sometimes described as "a nice kid," we are well aware of his 
limits.  What is more, delegating these two important duties 
to Papadimitriu indicates over reliance on a single 
individual, and signals a worrying lack of preparation on the 
part of the Martinelli camp in terms of the transition from 
the campaign trail to the president's chair. 
STEPHENSON