Panama formally offered its territory as a neutral venue for talks between the United States and Cuba, Foreign Minister Javier Martínez-Acha announced Monday during the opening session of the Organization of American States General Assembly in Panama City.
Martínez-Acha said the Cuban government has expressed willingness to discuss all issues as long as talks take place on equal terms. The United States has not provided a definitive response, he said, but considers the proposal a possibility.
The Panamanian foreign minister emphasized the need for what he called a less rigid and more results-oriented diplomatic approach. Diplomacy, he said, should serve to “promote understanding and advance gradual solutions” that support regional stability and peaceful coexistence.
The OAS assembly, which began Monday, brings together foreign ministers from across the hemisphere. The offer to host US-Cuba talks is the highest-profile diplomatic initiative Panama has put forward at the gathering.
According to local media reports, Panama is also engaged in discussions with Havana regarding seven Panamanian citizens detained in Cuba on accusations of anti-government propaganda. The case dates to Feb. 28, when a group of Panamanian citizens was arrested on the island. Cuban authorities linked them to political graffiti. According to publicly available information, they face possible prison sentences of up to eight years on charges of propaganda against the constitutional order. Panama is seeking to ensure their rights and due process, Martínez-Acha said.
Martínez-Acha also addressed the situation in Venezuela. He reiterated that Panama recognizes Edmundo González as the country’s president-elect, while adding that the decisions of the Venezuelan people must be respected. Delcy Rodríguez is acting president of Venezuela, having assumed the position on Jan. 5 after the U.S. apprehension of President Nicolás Maduro on charges of narcoterrorism, drug trafficking, and conspiracy to smuggle cocaine into the United States. Maduro is being held in New York and is due in federal court again July 22.
Martínez-Acha said several foreign ministers at the assembly discussed the importance of opening an inclusive dialogue involving all political actors to pave the way for free and fair elections, with guarantees and reforms to the electoral system.
“For Venezuela to be reintegrated into the Latin American community, it must have a government backed by the ballot box,” he said.
During the assembly’s opening ceremony, OAS Secretary-General Albert Ramdin called for expanding democratic practices in Cuba, Nicaragua, and Venezuela. He offered support to Bolivia in addressing its internal crisis and warned of the need to closely monitor electoral processes in Colombia and Peru. Ramdin said the OAS must continue working to strengthen democracy in countries where it considers democratic institutions insufficient or absent, according to the Panamanian newspaper La Prensa.