FILE PHOTO: Panama's President Jose Raul Mulino speaks during his first press conference, in Panama City, Panama July 18, 2024. REUTERS/Enea Lebrun/File Photo
PANAMA CITY (Reuters) -Panama's President Jose Raul Mulino told broadcaster CNN on Friday he would give Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro safe passage to act as a "bridge" to a third country in order to allow for a political transition in Venezuela.
Maduro has claimed victory in his reelection bid late last month, but the political opposition in the South American nation has done the same while the electoral authority has yet to release detailed vote tallies.
"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.
Panama is part of a group of Latin American countries that have cut diplomatic ties with Venezuela since the disputed July 28 election, including Argentina, Chile, Costa Rica, the Dominican Republic, Peru, and Uruguay.
(Reporting by Elida Moreno in Panama City and Ana Isabel Martinez in Mexico City; Writing by Brendan O'Boyle; Editing by David Alire Garcia)
