Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro has rejected out of hand the offer from the newly minted Panamanian president to escape from the dire and raucous situation he finds himself in.
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via Reuters:
PANAMA CITY, Aug 9 (Reuters) – Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro gave a scathing response to an offer on Friday from his Panamanian counterpart, Jose Raul Mulino, to facilitate his departure to a third country to allow for a political transition.
Mulino told broadcaster CNN he would give Maduro safe passage to act as a “bridge” to a third country, in the aftermath of a July 28 election Maduro says he won but independent pollsters claim as an opposition landslide.
“If that’s the contribution, the sacrifice that Panama has to make, by offering our soil so that this man and his family can leave Venezuela, Panama would do it without a doubt,” Mulino said in an interview.
The reply from Caracas was not exactly neighborly, coming across as somewhat curt:
But Maduro accused the Panamanian president, who himself was elected to office just three months ago, of getting “carried away by the gringos,” using a derogatory term for Americans.
“I will try to learn your name, President of Panama, but whoever messes with Venezuela runs aground,” Maduro told reporters outside a courtroom where he filed an appeal to verify the electoral results.
Maduro likely was alluding to a deal Panama has with the U.S., which pays for flights for people migrating from the region–the majority of them from Venezuela:
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Panama has also agreed a deal with the United States under which the latter will pay for flights to deport migrants who cross the country’s Darien Gap, a dangerous stretch of jungle that joins to the South American continent and a route more than 200,000 have taken so far in 2024, many hoping to reach the U.S.
Last year, Venezuelans made up over 60% of some half a million migrants who crossed the Darien in search of better opportunities and security abroad
We have written extensively on the embattled strongman/dictator, whom many–including the United States–believe committed fraud to maintain his grip on power: It was not unexpected, sadly.
Read related: Venezuela Strongman Maduro, Clinging to Power, Shuts Down X, Accuses Elon Musk of Launching ‘Attack’
Venezuela Cuts Diplomatic Ties With Countries Questioning Its Election Results
As this is a developing story, RedState will provide further updates as they become available.