A plane carrying several former presidents of Latin American countries to observe Venezuela’s elections this weekend was not allowed to take off from Panama’s Tocumen airport, the country’s President Jose Raul Mulino said on Friday.
Mulino said on social media that the plane carrying former Panamanian President Mireya Moscoso and other former presidents had been denied permission “to take off from Tocumen island with them on board.”
This was due to a “Venezuelan blockade of airspace,” he wrote.
The United States has warned Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro not to interfere in the electoral process and said it is ready to “recalibrate” sanctions pending the outcome of the vote.
What do we know about this incident?
Former Costa Rican President Miguel Angel Rodriguez, former Bolivian President Jorge Quiroga and former Mexican President Vicente Fox were also due to travel to Venezuela with Moscoso. All four former presidents have been vocal critics of the Maduro regime.
Fox shared a video that X had taken from inside the plane, posting, “Venezuela, whatever happens we are with you.”
The Panamanian Ministry of Foreign Affairs summoned the Venezuelan representative and asked for an explanation.
Venezuela’s presidential election on Sunday pits incumbent President Maduro against opposition candidate Edmundo Gonzalez Urrutia.
Maduro is seeking a third term and is currently trailing Urrutia in opinion polls, but after a decade in power he controls nearly every branch of state power, including the military and the electoral commission.
Urrutia himself is a former diplomat and belongs to a political coalition made up of civil society, trade unions, military veterans and former members of parliament.
Washington evaluates sanctions
The United States said on Friday it would issue a warning if Maduro claimed victory without providing evidence.
A senior U.S. official, who declined to be named, said it was “deeply concerning” that the Maduro government had limited the number of international observers.
“The United States stands ready to adjust its sanctions policy depending on future events in Venezuela,” Reuters quoted the official as saying.
“As we look ahead to the post-election period, we will continue to evaluate and update our sanctions policy as needed based on our foreign policy objectives.”
zc, rmt/cs (AFP, Reuters)
