Panama-Venezuela “dialogue bridge” collapses

A meeting between high-level delegations from Panama and Venezuela to help resolve the soured relations between the two countries was held in Santa Domingo in The Dominican Republic but produced only an angry response from Venezuelan   President Maduro.

The  Panamanian Foreign Ministry said the meeting was held at the request of the government of    Nicolás Maduro, who -according to the Ministry – asked the  Dominican president Danilo Medina to establish “a dialogue bridge” between Panama and Venezuela.

Vice-president and Foreign Minister  Isabel de Saint Malo de Alvarado “was asked by President Juan Carlos Varela to accept the invitation of President Medina, “says a Foreign Ministry release.

Venezuelan Vice President Wilmor Castro Soltendo headed a Venezuelan team and the meeting was moderated by the Dominican Chancellor Manuel Vargas.

At the meeting, De Saint Malo de Alvarado clarified that the list published by the Anti-Money Laundering Commission of Panama “only formalizes lists issued by the international community, “while commercial sanctions applied by Venezuela to subjects and Panamanian companies (mainly Copa Airlines) ” directly affects directly trade between both countries and, above all, the transit of citizens of Venezuela, Panama and the region.”

Although Panama reiterates its interest in overcoming the”impasse”, Venezuela made a negative assessment of the meeting.

In a Facebook Live transmission, Maduro said that the “head of the Panamanian delegation” – whose name he did not specify- “came to insult and sully” the Venezuelan representatives.

According to the AFP  News agency, Maduro is willing to meet with Varela, to resolve the conflict which led to the mutual withdrawal of ambassadors on April 5.