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Caribbean & Central America - March 2014 (ISSN 1741-4458

PANAMA: Venezuela-Panamanian relations on ice

This month the Venezuelan government led by President Nicolás Maduro severed relations with its Panamanian counterpart led by President Ricardo Martinelli. The decision was triggered by Panama’s recent efforts at the US-dominated Organization of American States (OAS) to hold a session at its Washington headquarters to discuss the internal political situation in Venezuela following deadly unrest which began last month. These efforts laid Martinelli open to accusations from Venezuela of interfering in Venezuela’s internal matters and being a lackey of the US. The rupture, which comes a decade after relations were last severed (under Maduro’s predecessor, the late Hugo Chávez, and former Panamanian president, Mireya Moscoso [Partido Panameñista, 1999-2004]), takes place as bilateral ties have come under increasing strain over the inability of Venezuelan companies to pay debts of some US$1.2bn to suppliers in Panama’s Colón Free Trade Zone (FTZ).

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