Martinelli still lacking White House invitation

(Newsroompanama.com) President Ricardo Martinelli is on his sixth visit to the U.S., but after 18 months in office, in spite of intense lobbying he has not had a meeting with U.S. President Barack Obama.

It is traditional that Panama's president meets with his U.S. counterpart soon after being elected says La Prensa, and Martinelli is the only president since the U.S. invasion of 1989, not to have been invited to the White House.

High level members of Team Martinelli have been stressing that in spite of recent Wikileaks reports exposing memorandums from the U.S. Embassy in Panama to Washington in August of last year, relationships between the two countries are sound.

Vice President Juan Carlos Varela acknowledged recently that the Panamanian government has been lobbying for the meeting for several months without success. A Washington lobbyist is paid $30,000 a month plus expenses to work on Panama’s behalf.

Varela said that Martinelli has met with high-ranking U.S. officials, including Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.

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Original Source: Newsroompanama.com

Date Retrieved: January 6, 2011