Ricardo Martinelli
Ricardo Martinelli (born 11 March 1952, in Panama City) is a Panamanian politician, businessman, and presidential candidate. After losing in 2004 he is a candidate for the May 2009 election. He appears to have won the 2009 election.
Early life
Martinelli is the son of Ricardo Martinelli Pardini and Gloria Berrocal.[1] He completed his secondary education at Staunton Military Academy in Staunton, Virginia in the United States.[2] Martinelli also studied at La Salle College. He has a Bachelor of Business Administration degree from the University of Arkansas and a Master of Business Administration degree from the Central American Institute of Business Administration of Central America.[2] Martinelli is married to Marta Linares with whom he has 3 children: Ricardo, Luis Enrique and Carolina.[1]
Business career
Martinelli is a millionaire and chairman of the board of the Super 99 supermarket chain.[2][1] He is chairman of two other companies and sits on the boards of at least eight other companies.[1]
Politics
During the presidency of Ernesto Pérez Balladares Martinelli served as Director of Social Security from 1994 to 1996.[2] From September 1999 to January 2003 he served as Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Panama Canal and as the Minister for Canal Affairs.[2]
Martinelli is the president of the Democratic Change party, which was founded in May 1998.[2] He was the leader of the party and a presidential candidate during the 2004 general election, in which his party came fourth and claimed around 5% of the vote.[3]
Martinelli is leader of Democratic Change and presidential candidate in the 2009 general election.[2] He made promises to cut political corruption and reduce violent crime and spent an estimated $35 million on promoting his campaign.[3] Martinelli is the favourite to win the election and opinion polls give him a double-digit lead over the ruling Democratic Revolutionary Party-People's Party coalition.[3] He has the support of the Alliance for Change, a group of political parties which includes the Panameñista Party, the Nationalist Republican Liberal Movement and the Patriotic Union Party.[2]
Ricardo Martinelli also founded in 2004 "The Ricardo Martinelli Foundation", of which he is its fundraiser and gives more than 8,000 scholarships a year to poor students with good scholastic average.
References
- ^ a b c d "¿Quién es Ricardo Martinelli Berrocal?". Official 2009 campaign web site (in Spanish). Retrieved 3 May 2009.
- ^ a b c d e f g h "Ricardo Martinelli, el magnate de supermercados que ofrece un cambio al país" (in Spanish). Univision. 28 April 2009. Retrieved 3 May 2009.
{{cite news}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter:|coauthors=(help) - ^ a b c "Change expected as Panama votes". BBC. 3 May 2009. Retrieved 3 May 2009.
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