Political career
In 1990 he was appointed Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs, during the government of president Guillermo Endara, after the restoration of democracy. After the death of Foreign Minister Julio Linares, he became Minister of Foreign Affairs and remained in office until the end of the administration in 1994. During his time as minister, he visited different governments and international organizations, and served as Head of the Negotiating Delegation of the Republic of Panama before the governments of the United States and the United Kingdom, for the negotiation and signing of mutual legal assistance treaties on criminal matters and crimes related to drug trafficking. From 1994 to 1995 he was a member of the National Council of Foreign Relations and Substitute Magistrate of the Civil Chamber of the Supreme Court of Justice.
In the Martinelli government he was appointed as Minister of Government and Justice in 2009 and served only one year, to 2010 where he submitted his resignation. He was thereafter appointed as Minister of Public Security from 2010 and served until the end of the administration in 2014. He received important tasks, becoming one of president Martinellis most trusted allies. As minister he reinforced security on the streets, through the application of police checkpoints, which Mulino claimed was a success as the police had managed to arrest fifteen thousand criminals trying to leave Panama, although some lawyers raised concern.
On 9 March 2012, he announced his resignation as Minister of Government and Justice, after disputes with the director of the National Police of Panama Gustavo Pérez, over the regulation of a new statute for security entities of the state. However, on 14 March he retracted his resignation, after the dismissal of Pérez from the position of police by president Martinelli. In July 2013, he was one of those in charge of handling the crisis of the North Korean ship Chong Chon Gang, in which Cuba was transporting war material hidden in 250,000 bags of brown sugar, but which was detained in Panamanian waters. The North Korean crew members were detained and later released and deported, in addition to receiving a fine from the Panama Canal Authority and retention of war material.
In 2015 he was imprisoned for allegedly committing crimes against the public administration, but in the end his case in 2016 was annulled due to procedural errors.
Mulino has been involved in party politics and was the founder of the Solidarity Party, serving first as vice president and then president. He later served as the Second Vice President of the Patriotic Union. He joined Martinelli's Democratic Change in 2011 until he left the party in 2019, three years later he joined Martinelli's new founded party Realizing Goals.
