Torrijos visits jailed Venezuelan

FORMER PANAMA President Martín Torrijos (2004-2009) met Sunday October 23  with jailed Venezuelan opposition leader Leopoldo López in the Ramo Verde military prison.

The meeting was confirmed by the prisoner’s wife Lilian Tintori, through Twitter.

“I appreciate his visit and his interest in the delicate situation that our country is experiencing,” López said.

“I expressed that we will always believe in dialogue, but I told him that this is not possible right now due to the suspension of the recall referendum,” López said on Twitter.

López has been a prisoner since February 2014 when he was found guilty of inciting violence during demonstrations that took place  that year.

He is serving a sentence of 13 years and nine months in jail.

The political prisoner has declared his innocence.

His defense lawyers say that the government tampered with evidence and committed procedural errors during his trial.

Since the middle of this year, Torrijos and the former presidents of the Dominican Republic (Leonel Fernández) and Spain (José Luis Zapatero) have tried to broker an agreement between the government and the opposition.

Meanwhile, Venezuelan President  Nicolas Maduro was in Rome meeting with Pope Francis.