Panama would be willing to offer “temporary political asylum” to Maduro to promote a transition

• Panamanian President José Raúl Mulino indicated that he would agree to offer this alternative to Maduro

Panamanian President José Raúl Mulino said on Friday, August 9, that his government “would be willing” to temporarily grant political asylum to Nicolás Maduro to promote a peaceful transition in Venezuela.

“If we have to offer our territory to be the bridge to make the transition from Venezuela to a third country, I do not believe that we can stay in Panama. If that is the sacrifice that has to be made, putting our land so that this man (Maduro) and his family can leave Venezuela, Panama would do it,” Mulino said in an interview for the program CNN Cafe.

Mulino said that the possibility had already been communicated to Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva through the Foreign Ministry. In his statement, the Panamanian leader clarified that he does not support the idea of ​​Maduro staying permanently in that country. “It would be very difficult to sell it to the population,” he said.

The president recalled that this is not the first time that Panama has been involved in a political crisis and mentioned his country’s handling of the cases of Haitian politician and military officer Raoul Cédras.

“Whatever Panama has to do to help Venezuela get out of the crisis, we will do it,” Mulino added.

The Panamanian president said that his country “is not promoting efforts to gain points or merits,” but rather “for a historical reason.”

The government of Panama broke diplomatic relations with Venezuela and recognized Edmundo González as the country’s president-elect in the presidential elections on July 28.

Panama proposed a regional summit of presidents to address the situation in Venezuela

Photo: EFE

José Raúl Mulino proposed on Tuesday, August 6, that a celebration be held in his country regional summit of presidents to address the crisis in Venezuela.

“I have asked the Panamanian Foreign Minister Javier Martínez Acha to speak with his counterparts in the area regarding inviting a meeting of presidents in Panama to address the issue of Venezuela and to try out more actions that support democracy and the popular will of the sister country. I hope and trust that the proposal will be accepted soon,” Mulino wrote in a message on his account on the social network X.

Argentine presidential spokesman Manuel Adorni also said that the president of that country, Javier Milei, considered that the possibility of holding a Latin American summit on the situation in Venezuela would be “interesting.”

The official said during a press conference at the Casa Rosada (seat of the Argentine government) that “it is something that can easily happen, but it is not planned or ruled out.”

Countries such as Panama, Peru, Uruguay and Costa Rica have recognized the victory of Edmundo González in the presidential elections.

Panama’s government, headed by Mulino, has been critical of the Venezuelan elections, demanding transparency in the July 28 vote. After the National Electoral Council (CNE) declared Nicolás Maduro the winner, Mulino called the elections “fraudulent” and announced the withdrawal of his diplomatic corps from the country. Currently, the airspace between the two countries is closed.

Mulino also described as “depressing” that member countries of the Organization of American States (OAS) did not reach the necessary consensus to approve a resolution that called on Venezuelan authorities to publish “immediately” the minutes of the July 28 elections with “absurd and stupid arguments.”

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