Panama’s top diplomat met with ten detained Panamanian nationals in Havana this week. Foreign Minister Javier Mart\u00ednez-Acha confirmed the visit occurred during his official trip to Cuba, which began on March 25, 2026.<\/p>\n
The citizens have been held by Cuban authorities since late February. They face accusations of committing crimes against the nation’s Constitutional order<\/a>, charges that could carry prison sentences of up to eight years.<\/p>\n Mart\u00ednez-Acha held extensive talks with the detainees. He assessed their health and verified they are receiving humanitarian treatment and proper legal assistance, according to official sources from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Panama<\/a>.<\/p>\n “The minister promised to meet with their families back in Panama,” a ministry statement read. [Translated from Spanish] He also conveyed a message of support from President Jos\u00e9 Ra\u00fal Mulino, emphasizing the government’s commitment to finding a solution while respecting Cuban laws.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n This high-level intervention underscores the case’s sensitivity. Panama’s diplomatic engagement seeks to navigate Cuba’s domestic legal system.<\/p>\n Parallel to the prison visit, Minister Mart\u00ednez-Acha conducted scheduled diplomatic meetings. He held high-level talks with his Cuban counterpart, Foreign Minister Bruno Rodr\u00edguez Parrilla.<\/p>\n The Panamanian foreign minister was also received by Cuban President Miguel D\u00edaz-Canel<\/a>. Their discussions covered regional topics, multilateralism, and international law. D\u00edaz-Canel thanked Panama for its collaboration and raised potential cooperation in medicine and biotechnology.<\/p>\n “The foreign minister thanked the Cuban president for the treatment offered to the Panamanians detained in Havana,” an official readout confirmed. [Translated from Spanish]<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n Panama’s Vice Foreign Minister Carlos Hoyos addressed the case’s complexity separately. He acknowledged it is not a diplomatic issue but a matter of Cuban internal law. Hoyos expressed hope for a diplomatic resolution but offered no guarantees.<\/p>\n The detained individuals are V\u00edctor Manuel Pinz\u00f3n Cede\u00f1o, Evelyn Edith Castro, Anthony Williams, Jules P\u00e9rez, Omar Gilberto Urriola Vergara, Maykol Jes\u00fas P\u00e9rez Almendra, Adalberto Antonio Navarro Asprilla, Abigail Sthefany Gudi\u00f1o Castro, Patrochiny Jerodany Joseph Arisarena, and Jos\u00e9 Luis Aguirre Baruco.<\/p>\n This incident occurs as Panama’s government, under President Mulino, actively addresses international consular cases. The administration has recently been vocal about other foreign policy matters, including efforts led by javier mart<\/a>inez-Acha to revise Panama’s standing with the European Union. It also continues robust security operations as part<\/a> of its border management strategy.<\/p>\n The Foreign Ministry has consistently urged Cuban authorities to respect all procedural guarantees for the detainees. Officials continue to monitor the situation closely as the Cuban legal process unfolds.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Panama’s top diplomat met with ten detained Panamanian nationals in Havana this week. Foreign Minister Javier Mart\u00ednez-Acha confirmed the visit occurred during his official trip to Cuba, which began on March 25, 2026. The citizens have been held by Cuban authorities since late February. They face accusations of committing crimes against the nation’s Constitutional order,<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":12281,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_sitemap_exclude":false,"_sitemap_priority":"","_sitemap_frequency":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[31,29],"tags":[3444,1950,3446,3443,3445],"class_list":{"0":"post-12282","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-crime-safety","8":"category-politics-government","9":"tag-citizen-detention","10":"tag-diplomatic-news","11":"tag-panama-cuba-detention","12":"tag-panama-cuba-relations","13":"tag-panama-foreign-minister-visits"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/expat-times.com\/panama\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12282","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/expat-times.com\/panama\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/expat-times.com\/panama\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/expat-times.com\/panama\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/expat-times.com\/panama\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=12282"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/expat-times.com\/panama\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12282\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":12283,"href":"https:\/\/expat-times.com\/panama\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12282\/revisions\/12283"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/expat-times.com\/panama\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/12281"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/expat-times.com\/panama\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=12282"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/expat-times.com\/panama\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=12282"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/expat-times.com\/panama\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=12282"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}Minister Confirms Humanitarian Treatment<\/h2>\n
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Diplomatic Meetings Amid Legal Uncertainty<\/h2>\n
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