Panama's ex-president Martinelli says will run again in 2024

FILE PHOTO: Former Panamanian president Ricardo Martinelli holds up a boxing belt while leaving a courthouse where he was acquitted on tapping charges in Panama City, Panama November 9, 2021. REUTERS/Erick Marciscano

PANAMA CITY (Reuters) - Former Panamanian President Ricardo Martinelli, who faces open corruption investigations, declared on Thursday his intention to run as an independent in the country's 2024 elections.

Martinelli, who led the Central American nation from 2009 to 2014, said on social media he had formally registered his candidacy with the electoral authority.