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Turkishpress.com) Venezuela has expelled Panama`s ambassador, along with three other diplomats, giving the officials’ 48 hours to leave the country.
The four diplomats were declared personae non gratae, according to Panamanian officials, who said they were “astonished” by the decision.
Venezuela`s Foreign Minister Elías Jaua said ties would be suspended, and debt repayments frozen, “until there is a serious government in Panama that respects relations [between the two countries].”
Venezuelan businesses owe an estimated $1.2 billion to Panama`s Colon Free Zone exporters, and fears are growing about repayment.
The break in relations was sparked when Panama requested a meeting at the Organization of American States to discuss the crisis in Venezuela.
As a result, Venezuela`s president, Nicolás Maduro, said diplomatic relations would be severed and economic ties with the Central American country frozen, labelling it a “lackey government” of the United States and accusing it of “stepping towards an intervention in our country.”
Following directly in the footsteps of his predecessor, the late Hugo Chávez, Maduro has apportioned blame for the country`s problems partly on the U.S., which it says is meddling in Venezuela`s affairs and orchestrating a coup d`état.
Venezuela has already expelled three U.S. diplomats from the country. Washington retaliated by expelling an equal number of a Venezuelan diplomats.
– Maduro calls on UNASUR to help
Despite rejecting the Organization of American States intervention, Maduro`s government has now appealed for international help from the Union of South American Nations, of which Panama and the U.S. are not members.
Reports say Venezuela has asked Suriname`s president, Dési Bouterse, who currently holds the rotating presidency of the union, to convene a meeting to discuss the country`s problems.
There has so far been little public high-level discussion from neighboring countries on events in Venezuela.
The violence, which began in early February, is the worst the country has seen in a decade with some reports suggesting over 1,000 people have now been detained in the unrest.
The opposition party leader, Ramón Guillermo Aveledo, said Maduro might be “sowing the seeds of a civil war” in the country, and said the government had tried to “terrorize” protesters off the streets, rather than address their grievances.
The protesters are demanding President Maduro`s resignation, but their numbers have decreased since February, and a lull was witnessed during this week`s annual Carnival celebrations.
Meanwhile, the president has urged Venezuelans to keep working and continued the country`s Bolivarian Revolution.