The Secretary General of the National Assembly, Carlos Alvarado, clarified this week that this body did not receive a formal invitation from Taiwan regarding the trip that has taken a group of deputies to the island. He also clarified that the invitation comes from Taiwan and has nothing to do with the Assembly.
The working visit to Taiwan by nine Panamanian deputies, which began on Tuesday and ends on Saturday, has generated a diplomatic controversy in Panama as it is the first by officials after the break in relations with the island considered rebellious by China.
Amid this tension, the president of Panama again criticized that in June 2017, then President Juan Carlos Varela (2014-2019) unexpectedly opened relations with China to the detriment of Taiwan, which was "very friendly to Panama" and "helped" the country after the U.S. invasion in 1989 with "fresh funds" to pay "delinquent interest (on the external debt) as a result of U.S. sanctions" and others.
"No one has ever asked me anything about Taiwan, never, never, in the sense of whether we would be willing to open a commercial office of Taiwan in Panama. If that request arrives, it will be analyzed and I will inform the country, not like the other one who, behind the scenes and in the middle of the night, opened relations with China," declared Mulino on November 20.
"They do not speak in the name of the Assembly, it has nothing to do with us," stressed the legislative official.
According to Alvarado, this situation has influenced that the trip is not channeled as an official mission within the institution. The Secretary General said that a process of this kind first involves elevating the letter of invitation to the presidency of the Assembly, then, if authorization is received, the treasury evaluates the money for the payment of per diems.
"Consequently, the payment of per diems to these deputies has not been authorized," Alvarado told Eco TV.
