Panama suspends diplomatic relations with Venezuela.

The president of Panama, José Raúl Mulino, announced on Monday the suspension of diplomatic relations with Venezuela and the withdrawal of its personnel from the South American country.

This decision comes after rejecting the results of the Venezuelan presidential elections, in which the National Electoral Council (CNE) declared President Nicolás Maduro the winner.

"The fragile relationship established in recent years with the Republic of Venezuela has been significantly damaged in recent days. First, due to the unilateral closure by the Venezuelan government of the airspace for flights from our airline Copa Airlines on Friday, July 26," Mulino stated in a declaration published on the official account of the Presidency of the Republic of Panama on X.

He also described the elections as a "overrun against the free, open, and transparent democratic system", and added that "we cannot ignore the attempted institutional coup against the sovereign will of the people of Venezuela."

The president of Panama stated that there is no other option but to make this decision "until the Venezuelan authorities carry out a review of the records and the computer system used in the voting tally."

Earlier this Monday, Mulino had indicated on his account on the social network X that his government would take both individual and collective actions, and measures would be adopted in the coming hours in line with inter-American standards.

"Panama joins the widespread rejection regarding the electoral outcome in Venezuela. We aspired for the popular will to be respected, and that situation was disregarded. We will act individually and collectively in favor of Venezuelan democracy. We will announce measures that we will adopt in accordance with inter-American rules in the coming hours," the president warned.

The recent proclamation of Nicolás Maduro as the winner of the presidential elections by the Chavista electoral authority has intensified political tension in Venezuela, a decision that has been strongly rejected by the opposition.

This Monday, July 29, 2024, the chavista electoral authority of Venezuela announced the reelection of Maduro, a result that immediately unleashed a wave of protests and rejection from the opposition and a significant portion of the population.