Panama orders Venezuela envoy out, Caracas suspends flights

Panama on Thursday ordered Venezuela's ambassador out and recalled its own envoy to the country as Caracas imposed sanctions on senior Panamanian officials and suspended flights in an escalating diplomatic row.
At issue is Panama's alignment with other Latin American countries as well as the European Union, Canada and the United States that have taken measures against President Nicolas Maduro's and his government on the grounds that he is undemocratically tightening his hold on power.
"Panama's government has decided to withdraw its ambassador to the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, Miguel Mejia, and asks the Venezuelan government to withdraw its ambassador accredited to Panama, Jorge Duran Centeno," the Panamanian foreign ministry said in a statement.
The communique came hours after Venezuela's government news agency AVN announced sanctions on Panama's president and other officials, and on a number of Panamanian companies including its main airline Copa.
Venezuelan aviation authorities also announced that all Copa flights "to and from the country are suspended as of April 6, 2018 as a measure to protect the Venezuelan financial system."
The Venezuelan announcements followed a declaration by Panama this week that it had added President Nicolas Maduro to a list of individuals deemed a "high risk" in terms of money laundering. Peru meanwhile told Maduro he is not welcome to attend a summit of leaders from across the Americas to be held in Lima next week. That gathering will include US President Donald Trump, who has branded Maduro a "dictator" and taken steps to reduce Venezuela's access to international credit.
Venezuela is teetering on the brink of default despite sitting atop the biggest oil reserves in the world. Hyperinflation, scarcities of basic food and medicine, and skyrocketing violence are gripping the country, prompting a swelling exodus of its citizens that is increasingly concerning the United Nations.
According to AVN, the sanctions against the Panamanian individuals and companies will result in a suspension "for 90 days (of) economic and financial relations."
In terms of Copa, that could signal significant problems for Venezuela itself.
Panama is the nearest major airline hub to Venezuela, and Copa is the main airline used by passengers in and out of Caracas. Departures from the Venezuelan capital are often booked up weeks or months in advance. A succession of international airlines have in the past couple of years ended their flights to Venezuela, including Delta, United, Aerolineas Argentinas and Avianca. The few left flying include Air France, Spain's Iberia, American Airlines and Swiftair from the US, Cubana and Turkish Airlines.