Panama offers to mediate between the US and Venezuela and to "host" temporarily "certain people"

Doha.- Panama is positioning itself as a mediator between the United States and Venezuela at a time of high tension between both countries and in the face of a possible action by Washington against the Venezuelan president, Nicolás Maduro, for which it could "host certain people from the Venezuelan regime", said in an interview with EFE the Panamanian Vice-Minister, Carlos Hoyos.

"Panama has always been a mediator country par excellence and President (of Panama, José Raúl) Mulino has even said that if to resolve the situation in Venezuela it is necessary to accommodate certain people from the Venezuelan regime, we would be willing to do so temporarily," he affirmed on the sidelines of the Doha Forum, which ends this Sunday in the Qatari capital. Panama announced this September that consular relations with Venezuela were restored only for migratory issues, after they were suspended last year following Mulino's questioning of the results of the 2024 presidential elections in the Caribbean country, in which Maduro was proclaimed the winner amid opposition accusations of fraud.

The United States maintains a military deployment in the Caribbean, near the border with Venezuela, under the argument of combating drug trafficking, but which Caracas has denounced as a "threat" that seeks to bring about a change of government.

In addition, the Caribbean country is suffering an air connectivity crisis originating after the notice issued on November 21 by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) of the U.S., in which it urged to "exercise extreme caution" when flying over this country and the south of the Caribbean in the face of what it considers "a potentially dangerous situation" in the area.

The Panama Canal in the Spotlight

Faced with a possible U.S. action in Venezuela and with Washington's reinforced military presence in the Caribbean, the Vice-Minister expressed "great concern that something could happen" both in his country and in the region, as it can "destabilize and affect everyone".

According to the Vice-Chancellor, the Canal is the world's largest "asset" and therefore "the whole world has to ensure its protection", in case it is affected in any way by the tensions in the Caribbean. "Regarding the Panama Canal, I believe that the United States is possibly the country most interested in ensuring that there is no type of interruption in the Panama Canal. And it is our job to ensure that we continue working within the Canal with that neutrality that obliges us and about which we have a very deep conviction," he asserted.

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And he pointed out that he does not believe that "any type of disruption due to a war conflict" will be seen, given that "the consequences of a, let's say, limited, closed channel are felt everywhere." In fact, for Panama - to which the Canal contributes "nearly 3 billion dollars to the State coffers every year" - it is a "very important" source for the financing of our own projects", so any "potential interruption in that would be very complicated for us".

The "impasse" with the US, overcome

At the beginning of the year, good relations between the United States and Panama became strained after Trump promised to "take back" the Panama Canal. "This initial impasse that we saw in the Government (of Trump) seems to me to have been largely overcome and right now the conversations are focused on all kinds of collaboration, mainly on trade issues, on migration and security issues," Hoyos said. Therefore, he is sure that they are already "much better aligned" with the Trump administration and that "what is coming in the next few years is going to be fabulous," he concluded.