The political after-effects of the Odebrecht scandal still echo in Latin America

Last week, prosecutors in Panama called for former Presidents Ricardo Martinelli and Juan Carlos Varela to face trial over money laundering accusations, in a series of scandals concerning Brazil’s giant construction company Odebrecht. In 2016, the firm pleaded guilty to U.S. courts, admitting to handing out more than USD 788 million in bribes to several governments in exchange for public construction contracts. 

In Panama alone, the company paid almost USD 60 million under the table between 2010 and 2014, which resulted in it being awarded contracts to build two subway lines, an international airport expansion, and several other expensive, overpriced enterprises in Panama City. 

The tentacles of Odebrecht’s massive corruption scheme spread far and wide in Latin America. In what Transparency International once labeled “the most well-organized corruption case ever uncovered in the history of capitalism,” the scandals have affected Latin American politics as a whole. 

Political shake-ups in recent years include important leaders and business owners either being overthrown, arrested, or put under investigation in ten Latin American countries. In Peru, where four former heads of state are implicated in Odebrecht’s...