On October 18th, the President of the Republic, Juan Carlos Varela, received the Secretary of State of the United States, Michael Pompeo, in a meeting that confirmed the solid relationship and successful strategic alliance maintained by Panama and the United States, bilaterally, regionally and global.
The Secretary of State was received at the Tocumen International Airport by the Vice President and Minister of Foreign Affairs, Isabel de Saint Malo de Alvarado, and then held a private meeting with the Panamanian president at the Presidential Palace, a space in which they shared criteria on different priority topics of common interest in the bilateral agenda, particularly in matters of security, where collaboration has been strengthened in the exchange of experiences and good practices for the management of irregular migratory flows, the fight against drug trafficking and other forms of organized crime .
The Secretary of State explained that the reason for this visit is because the relationship with Panama is important for the United States. “Both Nations work towards the same objectives,” Secretary Pompeo said.
They also discussed the situation in Venezuela and Nicaragua, and the necessary regional efforts in the face of the humanitarian situation faced by migrants. The Panamanian leader shared with Secretary Pompeo the importance that the private sector and civil society in the region become more involved in the fight against organized crime and in the search for alternatives to the social problems that cause mass migrations.
The Vice-President and Chancellor, Isabel de Saint Malo de Alvarado, participated in the hearing; the Minister of Economy and Finance, Eyda Varela de Chinchilla; and the Ambassador of Panama in the United States, Emanuel González-Revilla. While, on the American side, Kimberly Breier, Assistant Secretary for the Western Hemisphere of the State Department; as well as Roxanne Cabral, Chargé d’Affaires, a.i. and Thomas Brechbuhl, Advisor to the Secretary of State.
The meeting between the Panamanian authorities and the Secretary of State of the United States joins the bilateral high-level meetings such as the presidential meeting at the White House in June 2017, the subsequent official visit of Vice President Mike Pence to Panama and the Commander of the Coast Guard, Admiral Paul Zukunft, among others that mark the high dynamics of the bilateral agenda
