The Odebrecht case returns to the courts this Monday, January 12, 2026, after the ordinary hearing originally scheduled for November 11, 2025, was suspended and moved to this alternate date. The proceeding is part of the criminal process investigating the alleged crime of money laundering, linked to the awarding of public works contracts through bribes paid by the Brazilian construction company Odebrecht, in a corruption scheme that transcended borders and shook several Latin American countries. Internationally, Odebrecht admitted to judicial authorities in the United States, Brazil, and Switzerland that it paid approximately 788 million dollars in bribes in at least 12 countries, with the aim of securing multi-million dollar public contracts. Panama is among the nations impacted by this scheme, with illegal payments that, according to official investigations, exceeded 59 million dollars. The hearing scheduled for November did not materialize, forcing the court to reschedule the judicial act for January 2026, thus adding to the long list of delays that have marked the development of one of the country's most emblematic corruption cases. The Panamanian file includes former officials and businessmen, accused of their alleged participation in a plot that allowed the Brazilian construction company to secure infrastructure contracts worth billions of dollars, generating a deep impact on public finances and citizen confidence in state institutions. For this Monday, it is expected that the court will resume the corresponding procedure, amidst questioning about the slowness of the process and citizen expectations that concrete progress will finally be made in a case that has been dragging on for several years. The return of the Odebrecht case to the courts once again places the Panamanian justice system under scrutiny, in a process that not only drags on with time and failed hearings, but also the pressure of a world-reaching scandal that still awaits answers and definitive sanctions.
