Panama Runner-Up Lombana Met Convicted Ex-President Martinelli in Colombia
Key Facts
Panama’s opposition is already manoeuvring for the 2029 election, three years early. Now the country’s leading anti-corruption candidate has met the ex-president he long criticised.
MOCA, the party of 2024 runner-up Ricardo Lombana, confirmed on 18 September that he met former president Ricardo Martinelli in Colombia. El Siglo reported that the party denied any electoral pact for 2029, saying “listening is not making a pact”.
Why It Matters Beyond Panama
Ricardo Lombana leads MOCA, the Movimiento Otro Camino, or Another Way Movement. He finished second in the May 2024 presidential election with 24.59 percent, behind José Raúl Mulino.
Mulino replaced Martinelli on the ticket after his upheld conviction barred the former president from running. Martinelli, president from 2009 to 2014, was sentenced in 2023 to 128 months for money laundering in the New Business case.
La Prensa reported that the Supreme Court rejected three constitutional challenges to the sentence in an October 2025 ruling. He left Panama’s Nicaraguan embassy for Colombia on 10 May 2025 and has lived there under territorial asylum since.
Colombia classed him as politically persecuted, which La Prensa said shields him from extradition there. Those protections end if he leaves Colombian territory, according to the same report.
What MOCA Said
El Siglo reported that MOCA secretary Mario Pinzón confirmed the meeting in a party statement. The statement said the encounter was not a political agreement or an electoral alliance for 2029.
MOCA said its position on corruption and on court rulings “has not changed and will not change”. La Estrella de Panamá quoted the party saying its “sole alliance is with Panamanians”.
MOCA used the statement to criticise proposed electoral changes, including raising party registration thresholds from 2 to 3 percent. It also opposed a financing split of 93 percent for parties and 7 percent for independent candidates.
The Reaction
Eco TV reported on 19 September that the Bancada Seguimos legislative caucus said “we do not make pacts with the corrupt”. The group pledged to oppose any amnesty proposal in the National Assembly.
What Is Not Yet Known
La Prensa reported the visit took place in early August at a Bogotá clinic during Martinelli’s spine surgery. Martinelli’s lawyer Alejandro Pérez told La Prensa the two men have since spoken by phone.
Neither camp has disclosed what the two discussed, and Martinelli has not commented publicly. Martinelli presides over Realizando Metas, the party that carried Mulino to power in 2024.
Frequently Asked Questions
Who is Ricardo Lombana?
He is the founder and leader of MOCA, a Panamanian anti-corruption movement. He finished second in the 2024 presidential election.
Why is Ricardo Martinelli in Colombia?
He was sentenced in Panama to 128 months for money laundering. Colombia granted him asylum, and he arrived there in May 2025.
Sources: El Siglo, MOCA confirms meeting and denies 2029 pact, La Estrella de Panamá, Lombana and Martinelli meet in Colombia, Eco TV, Bancada Seguimos responds, La Prensa, Court upholds Martinelli’s New Business sentence, La Prensa, the rules of Martinelli’s asylum, La Prensa, Lombana visits Martinelli in Colombia, Wikipedia, 2024 Panamanian general election results
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