Venezuelan opposition leader Edmundo González Urrutia thanked Panamanian President José Raúl Mulino on Sunday for keeping the South American country "as a cause always present," after the head of state expressed his hope that the anti-chavista would "soon" join the Mercosur negotiation table as the ruler of a "democratic Venezuela."
In the Panamanian president's opinion, "it is a pity" that a nation "full" of human and natural resources like Venezuela is suspended from Mercosur "for not respecting democratic principles."
This group of nations signed a declaration on Saturday, on the sidelines of the Mercosur summit, calling on Venezuela to "restore" the democratic order "by peaceful means."
"Thank you, President Mulino, for having Venezuela as a cause always present. You perfectly understand the danger of not having peace in the region, your defense of our country, of freedom and the return to democracy is the defense of a true democrat," he wrote on the social network X.
González Urrutia also thanked Panama, Argentina, Paraguay, Bolivia, Ecuador, and Peru "for their commitment to democracy in the region."
Mulino stated to his South American colleagues that he hopes "in due course" to be able to hand over the "acts with a hug" to González Urrutia, "when he is already in power of a democratic Venezuela."
The National Electoral Council (CNE) of Venezuela, controlled by the ruling party, proclaimed the victory of Nicolás Maduro as re-elected president, without publishing the detailed results of this process.
During his speech at the summit in Brazil, the head of state recalled that in his country's National Bank, the records of the July 28, 2024 elections are under custody, which, according to the Venezuelan opposition, give González Urrutia victory in the presidential elections.
Venezuelan opposition leader and Nobel Peace Prize laureate María Corina Machado also thanked these six countries on Sunday "for their commitment to democracy and human rights" in the Caribbean nation.
