Responding to a question at his weekly news conference, Mulino said without offering evidence that an official at the U.S. Embassy is “threatening to take visas,” adding that such actions are ”not coherent with the good relationship I aspire to maintain with the United States.” He did not name the official.
U.S. Ambassador to Panama Kevin Marino Cabrera said in a statement Thursday that “a visa is a privilege, not a right.”
He cited a U.S. policy announced in September by the State Department to restrict visas to Central American citizens who act on behalf of the Chinese Communist Party to undermine the rule of law in the region. “We revoke and deny visas according to our laws and regulations, without regard to the profession or position of the individual in the government.”
