Venezuela suspends commercial flights to Panama and the Dominican Republic

The administration of Nicolás Maduro ordered the temporary suspension, starting July 31, of commercial flights to and from Panama and the Dominican Republic, in rejection of “interference actions” by these countries regarding the presidential elections held on July 28.

In a statement, the Executive explained that this suspension, which begins at 8:00 local time next Wednesday, also responds to “the presumption of the use of civil aviation for purposes not compatible with the principles of security.”

The Ministry of Transport “reserves the right to take legal action, in firm support of the political decisions of the State, in order to respect, preserve and defend the inalienable right of self-determination of the Venezuelan people,” the government added in the text.

Panama and the Dominican Republic are countries frequently used by Venezuelans and citizens of other nationalities to make air connections due to the low supply of direct flights to and from Venezuela.

Hours earlier, the Nicolás Maduro administration demanded that both countries, as well as Argentina, Chile, Costa Rica, Peru and Uruguay, “immediately withdraw their representatives from Venezuelan territory,” in rejection of their “interventionist actions and statements” regarding the presidential elections.

Venezuela also decided to “withdraw all diplomatic personnel from the missions” in these seven Latin American countries.

On Monday, the governments of Uruguay, Argentina, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Guatemala, Panama, Paraguay, Peru and the Dominican Republic expressed their deep concern about the conduct of the presidential elections.

They also demanded a full review of the results and called for an urgent meeting of the Organization of American States (OAS).

Venezuela’s National Electoral Council (CNE) officially proclaimed Maduro, in power since 2013, president. According to the electoral body, he obtained 51.2% of the votes, with 80% of the ballots counted, a result widely rejected by the majority opposition and a large part of the international community.