In a historic and tumultuous election in Panama, José Raúl Mulino has landed in the role of president-elect despite not even expecting to be the candidate a few months ago.

José Raúl Mulino, the stand-in for former President Ricardo Martinelli in Panama's presidential election, is on his way to becoming the new leader of the Central American nation.

Panama’s Supreme Court has rejected a constitutional challenge to the candidacy of leading presidential contender José Raúl Mulino.

Panama’s former President Ricardo Martinelli has received political asylum from Nicaragua days after the country’s Supreme Court denied his appeal over a money laundering conviction that carried a 10-year sentence.

Former Panamanian President Ricardo Martinelli has been sentenced to more than 10 years in prison for money laundering.

PEMBROKE PARK, Fla. – A former president of Panama, Ricardo Martinelli, was arrested Monday on a warrant out of Panama, the U.S. Martinelli, who served as president from 2009 to 2014, is in federal custody. Marshals Service spokesman Manny Puri says he was in custody Monday evening at a federal detention center in Miami. The former president was arrested earlier in the evening near his home in Coral Gables, Florida. Martinelli left Panama in 2015, and in 2016 Panama sent the U.S. an extradition request.