Panama seeks to reopen talks on $1billion Venezuela debt

PANAMA is seeking to re-open talks with Venezuela on the more than $1 billion owed to Panama businesses.

FinanceMinister  Dulcidio De La Guardia has sent a note to the Venezuela Ministry of Banking and Finance to resume talks on the debts.

. The last meeting was held in September in New York,  within the framework of the General Assembly of the United Nations.

It is estimated that Venezuela owes Panamanian companies more than $1 billion, with about $427 million being owed to Copa Airlines reports La Prensa.

The debt is due to the strict currency controls implemented by the government of Nicolas Maduro.

Copa is not the only airline hit bt  unpaid debts. The International Association of Air Transport (IATA)  says Venezuela owes airlines a total of $3.7 billion. Many airlines have stopped accepting Venezuelan currency for tickets and only accepts credit card transactions in American dollars.

TheAssociation of Users of the Colón Free Zone President Marco Tellez said Thursday,  that the resumption of the talks would be a positive step to resolving the issue, although previous discussions have not yielded any results, reports La Prensa.