The case of Panamanian marine Olmedo Javier Núñez has once again been put on hold. His spokesperson, Alfredo Romero, explained that the Panamanian was included in a list of people scheduled for release on Wednesday evening. On that day, the Government of Panama publicly announced that the marine had been freed. The Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs, Carlos Arturo Hoyos, confirmed that the detainee in Venezuela was released as reported. He said that everything was halted due to 'administrative issues' within the release process. According to Hoyos, there was an internal movement that caused confusion. He clarified that the initial information was incorrect and that Núñez remains detained in Venezuela, where he has been in custody for over seven months. The monitoring of the case has also been confirmed by Foro Penal. They indicated that Núñez was 'transferred', which ended up delaying the process. Hoyos did not detail at what exact point the process is or how much longer it could take, but said that the release has not been carried out. The situation gained momentum after what happened on January 16. The process remains open, and Panamanian authorities are maintaining their efforts, with no concrete date for his release yet. Hours later, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs came out to correct the record and retracted its statement through an official communiqué. In that document, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Panama indicated that the efforts were still active.
