Maduro said in a statement that Panamanian Foreign Minister Francisco Alvarez de Soto, and Panama's ambassador to the United States, Mario E. Jaramillo, were conspiring to bring about foreign intervention in Venezuela. And he accused Panama's right-wing government of lobbying for U.S interference.
His warning came a day after he announced Venezuela was breaking off diplomatic and trade ties with Panama, following Panama's request for an urgent meeting on Venezuela by the Organization of American States (OAS), a U.S.-dominated regional bloc.
Rebuking the Panamanian government as a "lackey" government, Maduro said earlier Wednesday the moves by the U.S. and Panama created the conditions for the OAS and other bodies to move towards intervention.
Maintaining that the right-wing protests were being fueled by the U.S. in an attempt to topple the socialist government, Maduro said he would respond forcefully to any attempted intervention.
During a meeting Thursday with his counterpart from Suriname, Desire Bouterse, Maduro also pledged to solve the political unrest within the regional framework of the Union of South American Nations (UNASUR), which groups 12 South American nations.
A special high-level UNASUR meeting will be held in the coming days to analyze the situation, Maduro and Bouterse jointly announced.
The special meeting aims "to lay out the circumstances and violent attacks by small groups that have tried to infringe on society and impose a political crisis in Venezuela," according to the joint statement. According to reports, the leaders of UNASUR member countries were discussing the exact date of the meeting.
