Nito Cortizo


Laurentino "Nito" Cortizo Cohen is a Panamanian politician who has served as President of Panama since 2019. Cortizo Cohen is the former President of the National Assembly and Minister of Agricultural and Livestock Development. He was also a member of the National Assembly between 1994 and 2004, serving a year as chamber president.
A member of the Democratic Revolutionary Party, he was elected as president on 5 May 2019 winning 33.27% of the vote.

Political career

Cortizo served as a member of the National Assembly from 1994 to 2004. He became President of the National Assembly in 2000, serving until 2001.
He also served as Minister of Agricultural and Livestock Development under President Martin Torrijos, however he resigned in 2006 due to his objections to the negotiations made in pursuit of the US-Panama Free Trade Agreement.