The leading candidate to be Panama’s next president is a last-minute stand-in who promises to return the Central American country to a boom time that experts say will be difficult to recapture
. José Raúl Mulino, a maritime lawyer and former security minister, was thrust to the top of the presidential ticket after Panama’s electoral authorities ruled former President Ricardo Martinelli ineligible following his money laundering conviction and sentencing. Lacking Martinelli’s charisma and popular appeal, but benefitting from the supermarket magnate’s vociferous support, Mulino has maintained a healthy lead in the field crowded with eight candidates ahead of the May 5 election.
Martinelli has campaigned for Mulino via social media platforms from behind the embassy’s walls, infuriating the Panamanian government, which has refused Nicaragua’s requests to let him leave the country. “Most Panamanians are angry and mad at the country’s political class,” said Michael Shifter, adjunct professor for Latin American Studies at Georgetown University.
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