Panama’s new president wants the will of the people to be heard in Venezuela

Mulino hopes that the elections in Venezuela will be a success / Photo: EFE

Panama’s new president, José Raúl Mulino, hoped on Thursday that Venezuela would “listen to the will of the people” in the presidential elections on July 28.

“The only thing I wish for Venezuela – I’m not going to give my opinion on internal issues, much less give my opinion on the presidents in a personal capacity – is that on July 28 everything is resolved in a democratic manner, that the will of the people is heard,” Mulino told Mitre radio in Argentina, when asked about the current Venezuelan president, Nicolás Maduro.

“The international community is paying close attention to this,” acknowledged Mulino, in relation to the electoral result for which 10 candidates will compete, including Maduro – who will seek his second re-election – and the standard-bearer of the largest opposition coalition – the Democratic Unitary Platform (PUD) -, Edmundo González Urrutia.

Provision

“I am particularly paying close attention to the elections,” said Mulino, because Venezuelans are at the top of the list of 1,200 to 1,300 migrants a day who cross from Colombia to Panama through the Darien jungle to reach the United States, ahead of Ecuadorians, Colombians and Haitians.

“As Venezuela finds a better way and things begin to pacify politically, obviously fewer people will try to pass through Panama and Darien,” Mulino explained.

Mulino acknowledged that Panama’s diplomatic relations with Venezuela, Cuba and Nicaragua are “a little diminished” and when asked if both countries are governed by a dictator, he acknowledged that “they have that style of evil.”

But with Venezuela and Cuba, Mulino stressed that Panama has “a very high level of commercial exchange” and “a huge number of Panamanian businessmen depend on these businesses.”

Panama City / EFE