Ricardo Martinelli

On June 12, 2017, Martinelli was arrested at Coral Gables in south Florida after a provisional arrest warrant issued by the U.S. Justice Department in response to a request from Panama and was set to appear on Federal Court.

Martinelli experienced high popularity ratings during his term of office, at one time in excess of 90%, the highest in the Americas at the time. In 2014, when he was preparing to leave office, his approval rating was still high, at 65%.

On June 16, 2013, received and acknowledgement from the FAO in Rome, Italy, for helping to reduce the child malnutrition in the Panamenian territory. It took place during the 38th Session of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) Conference. Martinelli was awarded besides other thirty seven countries.

In 2012, Panama—along with the U.S.—was one of the few countries that voted against Palestine in a key U.N. vote.

In addition, Martinelli upheld and reinforced drug trafficking laws throughout his presidency. In 2012 alone, the Panamanian government seized over 11 tons of cocaine, as reported by IHS.

Martinelli oversaw the final approval of the Panama–United States Trade Promotion Agreement, which was signed more than two years before he took office but had not been finalized. Martinelli had designated the completion of this agreement as his top priority upon taking office. The agreement was ratified by the US Congress on October 13, 2011.

Martinelli has also been criticized in the local and international media. In 2011, The Economist described the foreign investment as still hurt by "doubts about the rule of law", citing suspected corruption in the bidding for the metro contract and the flooding of a wealthy Panama City neighborhood with sewage due to a lack of enforcement of planning laws. Martinelli was also criticized during his presidency for authoritarian tactics. He sought to reduce the time period before the president could run for re-election though he withdrew when it proved unfeasible. He was accused of tampering with the Supreme Court. In August 2009, the US Ambassador to Panama, Barbara J. Stephenson, wrote to the US State Department that Martinelli had asked her for wiretaps on his political opponents, and she complained of his "bullying style" and "autocratic tendencies". A copy of the cable was released in December 2010 by WikiLeaks. After the leak, Martinelli's administration said that "help in tapping the telephones of politicians was never requested" and that Stephenson was "mistaken" in her interpretation.

In December 2011, former military ruler Manuel Noriega was extradited from France to Panama by Martinelli's government. Critics charged that Martinelli had requested the extradition to turn public attention away from administration scandals, an accusation denied by the French and Panamanian governments.

This prosperity widely benefited Panama, with unemployment declining from 6.6% to 4.1%. Income disparity also declined: according to The Economist, "the incomes of the poorest 10% are now 35 times lower than those of the richest 10%, rather than 60 times lower, according to the finance ministry." Gross domestic product grew by nearly half, while GDP per capita, according to the World Bank, rose 11%, from $9,982 (2010) to $11,036 (2014).

As of 2010, Martinelli's administration announced plans, ultimately fulfilled during his term, to invest $20 billion over the next four years on infrastructure designed to enhance Panama's role as a global logistics hub and increase foreign direct investment. The plan included greater investment in roads, hospitals, sewers, schools, and a Panama City metro. Fitch Group called the "ambitious public investment program" part of "Panama's highly favorable investment cycle."

On February 20, 2010, the University of Arkansas established the Ricardo A. Martinelli Berrocal Scholarship to provide financial aid to prospective University of Arkansas students from Panama. He was also presented with the Citation of Distinguished Alumnus award and was made an official ambassador of the State of Arkansas by Governor Mike Beebe.

Martinelli began his career as a credit officer at Citibank in Panama. After several years of banking, he purchased the business of a client, in turn becoming an entrepreneur, buying or starting additional businesses. His net worth was estimated at $1.1 billion or more, according to press reports. The Economist stated on his winning the 2009 election, that voters "want him to run the country as well as he manages his businesses."

As of 2009, he was the president and director of the board of Panamanian supermarket chain Super 99 and of two other companies. From May 2009, he passed the presidency of Super 99 to Luis Enrique Martinelli.

Martinelli was the leader of Democratic Change and presidential candidate in the 2009 general election. He ran on a pro-business platform, promising to cut political corruption and reduce violent crime and spent an estimated $35 million on promoting his campaign. By Election Day, Martinelli was the favorite to win the election, with opinion polls giving him a double-digit lead over the ruling Democratic Revolutionary Party (PRD)–People's Party coalition. He had the support of the Alliance for Change, a group of political parties that includes his own Democratic Change party, the Panameñista Party, the Nationalist Republican Liberal Movement, and the Patriotic Union Party.

On May 3, 2009, Martinelli won the national election by a landslide, with over 60% of the votes, compared to Herrera, who received about 36%. Former president Guillermo Endara finished a distant third. This was the second-largest majority in Panamanian history and the largest since 1989. Martinelli's victory was an exception to a trend of victories for left-leaning Latin American candidates. He was sworn in on July 1, 2009.

Martinelli served as president from 2009 through 2014, during which time the Panamanian economy grew robustly and steadily.

Martinelli's policies contributed to credit upgrades but also robust increases in foreign direct investment. During his tenure, it rose from $1,259.3 billion (2009) to $4,651.3 billion (2013).

Martinelli is the president of the Democratic Change party, which was founded in May 1998. He led the party and was the presidential candidate during the 2004 general election, when his party came in last; Martinelli received 5.3% of the vote and came in fourth place in the election.

During the presidency of Ernesto Pérez Balladares, Martinelli served as Director of Social security from 1994 to 1996. From September 1999 to January 2003, during the presidency of Mireya Moscoso, he served as chairman of the board of directors of the Panama Canal and as the Minister for Canal Affairs. y dice victor que el tiene un banco

In 1978, Martinelli married Marta Linares, with whom he has three children: Ricardo Alberto Martinelli Linares, Luis Enrique Martinelli Linares, and Carolina Martinelli Linares. Ricardo and Luis Enrique are accused of having received at least 22 million dollars of the Brazilian company Odebrecht, involved in a vast scandal of corruption. The money had then been hidden on bank accounts in Switzerland.

Born in Panama City, Ricardo Martinelli is the son of Ricardo Martinelli Pardini and Gloria Berrocal Fabrega. His father is of Italian descent, and his mother is of Spanish descent. He completed his secondary education at Staunton Military Academy in Staunton, Virginia, in the United States. In 1973 he graduated with a Bachelor of Business Administration degree from the University of Arkansas where he was a member of Sigma Nu fraternity.

Ricardo Alberto Martinelli Berrocal, GColIH (born March 11, 1952) is a Panamanian politician and businessman who was the 36th President of Panama from 2009 to 2014. In May 2017, Interpol issued a red notice (request for international arrest) for the extradition of Ricardo Martinelli, installed in Miami. Panamanian justice accuses the former president of having spied on telephone conversations of about 150 people, including journalists and leaders of the opposition. Martinelli was arrested in Miami by U.S. Marshals on June 12, 2017 to face extradition to Panama. He was extradited to Panama on June 11, 2018 to face the wiretapping charges.. On August 9, 2019 a 3-judge panel declared Ricardo Martinelli not guilty, the court cleared the former president of espionage and corruption during his administration and ordered him released from house arrest..