Hidden reasons alleged for Pence Panama visit

THE HIDDEN  reason for the visit to Panama of US Vice President Mike Pence is to drum up support for military intervention in Venezuela says a statement from The Canal Institute of International Studies of the University of Panama.

The letter follows a Colombian warning that no Latin American country would support US military action in Venezuela. President Trump’s suggestion has already been condemned by the  Venezuelan opposition to President Maduro.

“The Venezuelan people have every right to choose their way of governing and without external pressures and without prescribed formula… and the Panamanian people have every right to know the issues that the United States delegation will discuss with President Varela.” says the document.

In a letter to President  Varela , he group recalled his  June meeting with  President Donald Trump at the White House.

The signatories point out that it is normal for high-level meetings to leave questions, above all, they say, because last June’s meeting was preceded by the consequences of scandals known as ‘ The Panama Papers’, bribery by construction firm Odebrecht and pressure which the United States exercises through the ‘Clinton List’. This last measure that directly affects the newspapers Estrella de Panama  and El Siglo and the right of Panamanians to the freedoms of press and, expression

“It is worrying that you did not report a single detail of the meeting with Trump, except for the assertion that Panama remains a strong  US ally, ” the group says.

The signatories ask President Varela for a detailed report of his  June visit to Washington.

The letter concludes by asking that Varela be the guarantor that the security of the Panamanians will not be threatened by conflicts that are foreign to them.

Signatories
The letter was signed by: Carlos A. Mendoza, Mario Galindo, Rolando Villalaz, Celestino A. Araúz, Luis Navas, Rafael Ruiloba, Hernando Franco Muñoz, Olmedo García, Raúl González, Denis J. Chávez, Aracelly De León, Filiberto Morales, Salomón Samudio, Mario C. De Leon, Gilberto Solis, Carlos Agraje, Miguel A. Candanedo, Diógenes Sánchez, Manuel O. Nieto, Harley J. Mitchell and Armando Díaz.