Panama ex-president, 2 sons barred from US for corruption
By JUAN ZAMORANO
Associated Press
PANAMA CITY (AP) — The U.S. State Department has banned former Panama President Ricardo Martinelli from ever traveling to the United States. The department said wednesday that it has designated Martinelli for participating in “significant corruption” in awarding government contracts. The ban also applies to two of the former president’s sons, who returned to Panama on Wednesday after completing prison sentences in the United States for laundering millions of dollars in bribes from Brazilian construction giant Odebrecht. An offiial says Luis Enrique Martinelli Linares and Ricardo Martinelli Linares arrived Wednesday evening.