(Bloomberg) -- Former Panama President Ricardo Martinelli won a presidential primary election for his conservative Realizing Goals party, the electoral authority said on its website.
Martinelli won the primary with 96.7% of votes cast, according to the electoral authority. He will run as the party’s candidate for Panama’s 2024 presidential election.
Martinelli, who served as president from 2009-2014 and oversaw economic growth rates as high as 11%, but was extradited to Panama from the U.S. in 2018 to face charges of embezzlement and illegal wiretapping. Martinelli was absolved of those charges.
He still faces money laundering charges in a separate case for allegedly participating in a scheme to use public funds to buy a majority stake in local a newspaper.
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