Panama's Accuses Ex-La Prensa Head of Corruption

At the time, Planells did not take the letter seriously, and the U.S. government also did not comment on it. Her excuse quickly fell apart when Cabrera stated that he had not even seen the letter that Sola had sent to the Secretary of State in 2024. According to Planells, the series of publications by the newspaper La Prensa, which exposed Sola's connection to the private marina project in Amador, led to her downfall. She also lamented that during the Varela administration, La Prensa had a different news policy. But this week, when Ambassador Kevin Marino Cabrera did not hesitate to call Planells an 'extortionist,' the former president of La Prensa reacted quickly. However, the main message was to make it clear that Planells did not deserve the anti-corruption award given to her by the Biden administration in 2023. 'If she (Planells) wants to say it's only because of Louis Sola's letter, she is very mistaken because she had not even seen that letter until she published it in her response,' the ambassador pointed out. Planells tried to use her anti-corruption crusade to play the victim. But just two days after the incendiary tweet, the ambassador not only stood by his words but also debunked the alibi presented by Planells. He stated that the accusations of conspiracy and electoral interference made by Cabrera are false and were motivated by the letter Louis Sola sent in October 2024. That is, the current accusations against her are a reprisal for these publications that she led at La Prensa. And to her misfortune, to the already made accusation of 'extortionist' on Wednesday, Cabrera added the ingredient of corruption, a complete contradiction considering that Planells has always boasted of being a corruption fighter. With this argument, one of the most media-visible figures at La Prensa in recent years tried to escape the scandal. In October 2024, the former U.S. official Louis Sola sent a letter to then-Secretary of State Antony Blinken to inform him of the methodology and credibility of Annette Planells, who was president of the newspaper La Prensa. 'Giving an anti-corruption award to a person based on corruption is completely absurd,' he concluded. Sola warned about the way La Prensa handled certain information related to the presence of the Chinese and the Amador marina.