Prior to the resignation of Eduardo Ulloa from the position of Attorney General of the Nation, the president of Panama Laurentino Cortizo spoke with him and questioned him about the little progress in results in investigations related to complaints filed since mid-2020.
This was confirmed by the president himself in an exclusive interview with journalist Hugo Famanía for the Open Debate program, however Cortizo denied having asked Ulloa to resign.
"I did not ask him for his resignation, no, not at all. I spoke with him, I did not ask for his resignation. We have cases, for example in
Senniaf, which were presented in June, July and absolutely what had not been done yet. There are cases that have to move forward, we cannot stand with our arms crossed and hope that nothing happens," explained Cortizo.
He also said that during his talk with Ulloa, "in the end he told me a lot about the pressure he received from the media, the attacks, I understand ... for someone new who enters and is not used to the attack of the media."
"I cannot go into that detail of the pressures that he, as a person, has been feeling, it is a difficult position. If there are emblematic cases that at some point have to be solved, those cases cannot be sleeping the eternal sleep", he reiterated.
Ulloa, appointed by President Cortizo and who took office as Procurator in January 2020, resigned on February 24, 2021.
To the question of whether he considers this designation a mistake, Cortizo replied, "I cannot say that, because I accepted a process and followed through with the process."
Ulloa's departure occurred without specifying the reasons and in the midst of scandals over cases of abuse and mistreatment of minors in shelters. Javier Caraballo was appointed attorney general after Ulloa's departure.
Cortizo explained that they are in the process of seeing what options there are available.