US bans former Panama president for 'significant corruption,' Blinken says

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The United States has banned former Panamanian President Juan Carlos Varela Rodriguez from entering the U.S. for his “involvement in significant corruption,” according to Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Thursday.

In a statement released by the State Department, Blinken announced that former Panamanian President Juan Carlos Varela Rodriguez has been designated as generally ineligible for entry into the United States due to his involvement in significant corruption. The statement stated, “While serving as Panama’s vice president and then president, Varela accepted bribes in exchange for improperly awarding government contracts.”

A Panama judge last November called two former presidents, including Varela, and other high-profile figures to trial over money-laundering related to the Odebrecht bribery probe, a sweeping corruption investigation that affected Latin America. The trial is scheduled to begin later this year.

Both Ricardo Martinelli, Panama’s president from 2009 to 2014, and Martinelli’s successor and vice president, Varela, who served as president until 2019, were summoned for the trial. In 2020, Varela and Martinelli were banned from leaving Panama as investigations began. Both individuals have denied committing any crimes.

In 2016, Odebrecht and its parent company, Braskem, Brazil’s largest petrochemicals firm, agreed to pay $3.5 billion to settle bribery-related charges brought by U.S., Brazilian, and Swiss regulators. The scandal involving bribes for public-works contracts also affected other countries where Odebrecht conducted business, including Peru, Mexico, Argentina, and Colombia.

(Reporting by Kanishka Singh in Washington; Editing by Leslie Adler and Sandra Maler)