"We have been discussing this issue [the withdrawal of the ambassador] for many months. We have not done it before only to protect the interests of Panama in this country and to express solidarity to the humanitarian situation our Venezuelan brother have faced," the minister said Tuesday.
A number of Latin American countries, as well as the non-regional states, such as the United States, have expressed their concerns over the recent elections to Venezuela's National Constituent Assembly. The vote to elect the body, which will be charged with rewriting the constitution, was organized by President Nicolas Maduro's government and sparked numerous protests across the country that resulted in casualties.
On Monday, the Colombian Foreign Ministry announced that it would not return it's ambassador to Venezuela that was recalled in March in protest against the March decision of the Venezuelan Supreme Court to assume the functions of the country’s parliament.
