Ricardo Alberto Martinelli Berrocal (born March 11, 1951) is a Panamanian politician and businessman who was the 36th president of Panama from 2009 to 2014.
Early life
Born in Panama City, Ricardo Martinelli is the son of Ricardo Martinelli Pardini and Gloria Berrocal Fábrega. His father is of Italian descent, and his mother is of Spanish descent. He completed his secondary education at Staunton Military Academy in Staunton, Virginia, in the United States. In 1973 he graduated with a bachelor of science in business administration degree from the University of Arkansas where he was a member of Sigma Nu fraternity.
Business career
Martinelli began his career as a credit officer at Citibank in Panama. After several years of banking, he purchased the business of a client, in turn becoming an entrepreneur, buying or starting additional businesses. His net worth was estimated at $1.1 billion or more, according to press reports. The Economist stated that voters "want him to run the country as well as he manages his businesses" in response to his victory in the 2009 presidential election.
As of 2009, he was the president and director of the board of Panamanian supermarket chain, Super 99 and of two other companies. From May 2009, he passed the presidency of Super 99 to Luis Enrique Martinelli.
Politics
During the presidency of Ernesto Pérez Balladares, Martinelli served as Director of Social security from 1994 to 1996. From September 1999 to January 2003, during the presidency of Mireya Moscoso, he served as chairman of the board of directors of the Panama Canal and as the Minister for Canal Affairs.
Martinelli was the president of the Democratic Change party, which was founded in May 1998. He led the party and was the presidential candidate during the 2004 general election, when his party came in last; Martinelli received 5.3% of the vote and came in fourth and place in the election.
Martinelli was the leader of Democratic Change and presidential candidate in the 2009 general election. He ran on a pro-business platform, promising to cut political corruption and reduce violent crime and spent an estimated $35 million on promoting his campaign. By Election Day, Martinelli was the favorite to win the election, with opinion polls giving him a double-digit lead over the ruling Democratic Revolutionary Party (PRD)–People's Party coalition. He had the support of the Alliance for Change, a group of political parties that includes his own Democratic Change party, the Panameñista Party, the Nationalist Republican Liberal Movement, and the Patriotic Union Party.
His main opponent was PRD candidate Balbina Herrera. Though initially the favorite, she was damaged in the election by her links to former military ruler Manuel Noriega and by the perception that she was a "Chavista", a supporter of leftist Venezuelan president Hugo Chavez. Martinelli was also helped by strong support from the business community.
On May 3, 2009, Martinelli won the national election by a landslide, with over 60% of the votes, thanks to the alliance with who would be his vice president, Juan Carlos Varela, who contributed the votes of the Panamanian party, 22.2% of the total, compared to Herrera, who received about 36%. Former president Guillermo Endara finished a distant third. This was the second-largest majority in Panamanian history and the largest since 1989. Martinelli's victory was an exception to a trend of victories for left-leaning Latin American candidates. He was sworn in on July 1, 2009.
Presidency (2009–2014) Martinelli served as president from 2009 through 2014.
Under Martinelli, Panama enjoyed high economic growth. As reported by The Economist in 2012, "though it lies in Central America, the poorest and most violent region in the West, the country's 3.6m citizens are now richer than most Latin Americans." The following year, The New York Times stated that "Panama [was] booming, with an average economic growth of 9 percent in [the past] five years, the highest in Latin America."
This prosperity widely benefited Panama, with unemployment declining from 6.6% to 4.1%. Income disparity also declined: according to The Economist, "the incomes of the poorest 10% are now 35 times lower than those of the richest 10%, rather than 60 times lower, according to the finance ministry." Gross domestic product (GDP) grew by nearly half, while GDP per capita rose 11%, from $9,982 in 2010 to $11,036 in 2014.