The Government of Panama said this Friday that the Nicolás Maduro’s administration “blocked the country’s airspace” and “retained planes” from the Copa airline, including the one carrying several former presidents as observers for this Sunday’s elections“for a period of several hours” due to “political issues unrelated” to the Central American country, although the air route has already been restored.
«The Venezuelan government blocked the Panamanian company Copa Airlines from its airspace for several hours. The Venezuelan government detained a Copa plane on the Caracas – Panama route and also did not allow a flight to take off due to an incident with prominent passengers.“, said Panamanian Foreign Minister Javier Martínez-Acha at a press conference.
He added that the Central American country “He is respectful of Venezuela’s internal democratic processes, but he cannot allow his airline’s planes with Panamanians on board to be held for political reasons unrelated to Panama.”«.
He also warned that the Panamanian government ““He will be vigorous in defending Panamanian companies and all Panamanians who are leaving or returning to their country.”
Martínez-Acha explained, in that press conference after it was reported that the plane with the former Latin American presidents could not take off, that the National Institute of Civil Aeronautics Venezuela «never sent or formalized any warning to the civil aeronautical authority of Panama.”
«This is a unilateral decision by Venezuela that affected Panamanians and this is unacceptable for our Government.“, he stressed and announced that”Flights in both directions have been resumed.
According to the director of the Civil Aeronautics of Panama, Rafael Bárcenas, The notice of this impediment to entering Venezuelan airspace was notified to Panama by the Barranquilla Control Center (Colombia) at approximately 11:27 local time (16:27 GMT).
Copa Airlines plane was not allowed to take off
The Panamanian president, José Raúl Mulino, reported that a plane Copa Airlines flight that was transporting former Panamanian President Mireya Moscoso and other former presidents to Venezuela was not “allowed to take off from (the airport) Tocumen while they remain on board, due to the blockade of Venezuelan airspace. Likewise, another Copa flight to Panama from Caracas has not been allowed to take off.”
Following this, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (Chancellery) of Panama summoned the “representative of the Diplomatic Mission of Venezuela» in order to provide explanations for the incident.
Former presidents Moscoso, Mexican Vicente Fox, Costa Rican Miguel Ángel Rodríguez, Bolivian Jorge Quiroga and former Colombian vice president Marta Lucía Ramírez were traveling on that plane.on a mission organized by the Democratic Initiative of Spain and the Americas (IDEA-Democrática) and invited by the Venezuelan opposition, according to some of them.
These former presidents are also part of the Freedom and Democracy Groupwhich also includes the Dominican president, Luis Abinader, and the former presidents of the Spanish Government, José María Aznar and Mariano Rajoy, as well as the former presidents Mario Abdo Benítez, from Paraguay; Jeanine Áñez from Bolivia; Felipe Calderón from Mexico, and Iván Duque and Andrés Pastrana, from Colombia, among others.
Caracas’ decision to prevent some of them from leaving Panama comes after the Freedom and Democracy Group said in a statement on Wednesday that any attempt at fraud in Venezuela’s presidential elections must be sanctioned by the international community.
*With information from EFE*
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2024-09-21 08:18:35
