Panama Orders Withdrawal of Venezuelan Diplomatic Mission

Panamanian President José Raúl Mulino also announced that diplomatic relations with the South American country were being suspended.  The Government of Panama ordered on Monday, July 29, 2024, the withdrawal of the diplomatic mission of Venezuela.  This was announced by Panamanian President José Raúl Mulino, at a conference held at the Presidential Amphitheater in Panama City.  Mulino said that the “fragile relationship” with Venezuela has been “significantly” damaged in recent days. First, due to the “unilateral closure” by the Venezuelan government of the airspace for flights by the Panamanian airline Copa Airlines – an event that occurred last Friday, July 26 – and second, due to the results of the presidential elections held yesterday, Sunday, in that South American country. 

Regarding the latter, the Panamanian leader said that there was a “violation of the democratic, free, open and transparent system.” This was a consequence of the Venezuelan National Electoral Council proclaiming Nicolás Maduro as the winner of the presidential elections.  “We cannot look the other way, in the face of an attempted institutional coup, at the sovereign decision of the Venezuelan people,” he said.  Similarly, Mulino said that diplomatic relations with the South American country were being put on hold until a complete review of the minutes and the computer system for the vote count was carried out, which “allows us to know the genuine popular will” in the electoral process of July 28.  “The millions of Venezuelans deserve respect for the genuine will of the people. Democratic principles and values ​​are not negotiable,” he said.

There has been a resounding rejection in America of the proclamation of Nicolás Maduro as the winner of the Venezuela elections.  Venezuelan Opposition Leader Edmundo González Urrutia denounces that ‘all the rules have been violated’ in Venezuela.  European leaders call for transparency in Venezuelan electoral process.  Lula da Silva of Brazil calls for an ‘impartial verification of the results’ of the elections in Venezuela. 

The Government of Panama called a press conference to address the widespread rejection of the election results in Venezuela.  The press conference is held at the Presidential Amphitheater.  You will be able to view it on YouTube in Spanish. Below is a CBS report.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i8GQcCUAhtc

Reuters and CNN had this report:  https://edition.cnn.com/2024/07/29/world/video/venezuela-election-results-reaction-ldn-digvid