Panama President Mulino on the Situation in Venezuela

Panamanian President José Raúl Mulino spoke about the situation in Venezuela after the United States bombing aimed at capturing Nicolás Maduro.  “In light of the events that occurred this morning in Venezuela, my government reiterates our position in favor of the democratic experiment and in favor of accepting the legitimate wishes of the Venezuelan people, expressed decisively at the ballot boxes, where citizen Edmundo González was elected.” 

He added: “Panama will always stand in solidarity with peace and with an orderly and legitimate transition process.”   Various media outlets have reported that Nicolás Maduro was arrested by US personnel to face criminal charges in New York City, and that the military action recorded in the early hours of January 3 was aimed at protecting and defending those who were carrying out the arrest warrant.

Panama urges the de facto authorities still in power in Venezuela to rectify their conduct.  The Government of Panama spoke out firmly on the recent events in Venezuela and, through a statement, reiterated its support for a democratic transition and pacification process for the Venezuelan people.  In the statement, Panama affirmed its recognition of the efforts and commitment expressed over a long period by various international and regional actors. It recalled that, on numerous occasions, Panamanian President José Raúl Mulino has expressed in international forums his firm desire to contribute to a peaceful transition in Venezuela. 

The Panamanian government also emphasized that it recently offered its territory as a neutral space to facilitate a democratic and orderly solution for the Venezuelan people. However, it lamented that the situation has deteriorated under Nicolás Maduro’s leadership.  According to the statement, by not recognizing the popular will expressed in the electoral contest that gave the victory to Edmundo González , the Venezuelan government closed the path to a democratic transition and opened the way to a process of greater authoritarianism and repression. 

Given this situation, Panama urged the de facto authorities still in power in Venezuela to rectify their conduct and act in accordance with the principles of legality and legitimacy. The Panamanian government believes that the transfer of power must be carried out in accordance with the sovereign will of the Venezuelan people, supported by electoral results that—according to Panama —have been duly challenged.  Finally, Panama reiterated its commitment to peace, freedom and democracy, as well as its support for a democratic transition and pacification process for Venezuela. 

“It is time for Venezuela and its people to live, grow and prosper in a country destined for freedom and prosperity, moving away from the oppression that has marked the last two decades,” the statement emphasized.  This comes after US President Donald J. Trump stated on Saturday, January 3, in a post on the Truth Social network that his country “successfully” carried out a large-scale attack against Nicolás Maduro, who was captured along with his wife Cilia Flores, both pictured below. 

María Corina Machado says Edmundo González Should Take Over Immediately.

The opposition leader stated that the United States has “fulfilled its promise to enforce the law” in the face of Maduro’s “refusal” to “accept a negotiated solution.”  Opposition leader and 2025 Nobel Peace Prize laureate María Corina Machado called on Venezuelans this Saturday to remain vigilant until the “transition” in Venezuela is completed and asserted that Edmundo González Urrutia “must immediately assume” power in the country, after the United States captured President Nicolás Maduro in an attack.  In a statement shared on her X account, Machado called on Venezuelans in her country to be “ready to launch” something she said she would announce “very soon” through her official channels, without specifying details.

Panama: González Urrutia is President-Elect of Venezuela and Calls for an Orderly Transition

“My government reiterates our position in favor of the democratic experiment and in favor of accepting the legitimate wishes of the Venezuelan people.”

Panamanian President José Raúl Mulino expressed his support on Saturday for the democratic experiment in Venezuela, which resulted in an electoral victory for opposition candidate Edmundo González Urrutia, and advocated for an orderly transition of power in that country following the capture of Nicolás Maduro by the United States.  “In light of the events that occurred this morning in Venezuela, my government reiterates our support for the democratic process and for accepting the legitimate wishes of the Venezuelan people, expressed decisively at the ballot box, where Mr. Edmundo González was elected.  Panama will always stand in solidarity with peace and with an orderly and legitimate transition process,” Mulino stated in a message on X. 

President Donald Trump announced that the United States successfully carried out a large-scale attack against Venezuela on Saturday, capturing Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, who will be taken to New York to face trial in federal court on four charges, including conspiracy to commit narco-terrorism.  Mulino has repeatedly expressed his hope in recent weeks that González Urrutia will assume the Government of Venezuela, claiming that thousands of electoral records from the July 28, 2024 elections, which remain safeguarded in the National Bank of Panama, prove his victory.  

Venezuela’s National Electoral Council (CNE), controlled by the ruling party, proclaimed Nicolás Maduro’s victory as re-elected president in the July 2024 elections, without showing the electoral records that prove it.  “I also spoke with the president-elect of Venezuela, Edmundo González Urrutia, whom I hope will assume office, leaving behind years and years of a brutal dictatorship, which today is in a state of complete decay,” Mulino said Friday during an accountability session before Parliament, recalling his trip to Norway last December to attend the Nobel Peace Prize ceremony for Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado.

‘I Felt the Explosions and Thought: My God the Day has come’: This is How Venezuelans Experienced Maduro’s Capture in Caracas

‘Absolute Resolve’: This is how the United States carried out a ‘surprise’ operation against Nicolás Maduro and his wife in Venezuela.

Whistles, explosions… At first you think of fireworks, countless in Caracas on New Year’s, but the windows vibrate from the shockwave of the explosions: the US operation to remove Nicolás Maduro from power began this Saturday at 2 a.m.  The roar of planes and missiles is omnipresent, punctuated by dozens of explosions that lit up the sky at times.  “I felt (the explosions) jolt me ​​out of bed. At that moment I thought, ‘My God, the day has come,’ and I cried,” María Eugenia Escobar, a 58-year-old resident of La Guaira, told news media.  Journalists heard helicopters but did not know if they were Venezuelan or American aircraft.  Columns of smoke rose from several points in the capital: Fort Tiuna, the massive military compound in Caracas, and La Carlota military airport. 

Witnesses reported bombings in La Guaira, the Caracas airport and port, Maracay to the west, and Higuerote to the east.  Around 3:15 the operations seemed to conclude… But around 5:00 came the surprise: Donald Trump announced that the United States had captured Maduro and the first lady Cilia Flores, nicknamed the first combatant.  Where and how? No explanation. Not even an interview given by Trump.  “He was in a heavily guarded location… in fact, it was like a fortress. He was in a fortress. There were steel gates; there was what they call a security perimeter, with solid steel all around. He couldn’t close that perimeter, he tried to get in, but they caught him so fast he didn’t make it,” the president boasted in an interview with Fox News, claiming to have followed the operation live, “literally like I was watching a TV show.”

Without Human Balance

At dawn, the magnitude of the attack becomes clear. Small armored vehicles show bullet holes, others are burned out. Residents flee the area of ​​Fuerte Tiuna, speaking of survival.  Some areas of the city smell of gunpowder. In a gesture of helplessness, Vice President Delcy Rodríguez said in a televised phone call in the early hours of the morning that she didn’t know Maduro’s whereabouts, while simultaneously calling for a national defense plan.  US helicopters penetrated to the heart of Caracas to capture Maduro.  It was a surprise, despite countless warnings from Trump, who tried unsuccessfully to remove Maduro from power during his first term in the White House (2017-2021). Maduro’s accusations of alleged coup attempts and real or imagined conspiracies have also been countless. 

Trump gradually intensified pressure on Maduro. Since the beginning of his term in January 2025, he has tightened economic sanctions and, in August, deployed a military fleet to the Caribbean amid accusations that Maduro heads a drug cartel whose existence remains to be proven, according to experts.  In September, the first bombings took place against boats suspected of being drug traffickers. Since then, more than 100 people have died in some 30 attacks.  In November, the world’s largest aircraft carrier arrived in the Caribbean. In December, the military seized an oil tanker, and then a second one. All of this accompanied by countless incursions by US aircraft on the borders of, and even over, Venezuela. 

“Yes Peace, No war,” Nicolás Maduro would exclaim, sing and dance in public or on television, speaking of a “psychological” war waged by Goliath against David.  Finally, after patiently arranging his pieces, Goliath went on the offensive with an operation that allowed him to execute a threat he had repeated several times in recent weeks: Maduro’s days in power are “numbered”.  While Trump celebrated that no American soldiers had died, the human toll on the Venezuelan side of these attacks is still unknown.  Defense Minister General Vladimir Padrino López accused the US military of attacking “residential areas of the civilian population using missiles and rockets fired from their combat helicopters.”