Panama's President José Raúl Mulino has offered, through back channels, Maduro temporary political asylum until he could actually find a country willing to take him and his family in. “If Panama is the transit country for a permanent exile of Maduro and his clan, then we would do it with the necessary security,” he added.
Little else has surfaced publicly regarding contacts made by the governments of Brazil and other countries, including Colombia and Mexico, which have said they wanted to facilitate negotiations between Maduro and the opposition. A U.S. official said he could not “confirm or deny” that the Biden administration is in direct contact with the Maduro government.
Maduro has been in power since March, 2013 when Hugo Chávez passed. Since that time, Maduro has been accused of authoritarian leadership since he took office in 2013. After the opposition won the 2015 parliamentary elections, the lame duck National Assembly, consisting of pro-Maduro Bolivarian officials, filled the Supreme Tribunal of Justice with Maduro allies; the New York Times reported that Venezuela was "moving closer to one-man rule".
The election of 2019 had the same result, with Russia, China and several others supporting Maduro’s Intransigence. Now that support is collapsing.
All interested parties, including members of the OAS (Organization of American States), the leaders of Brazil, Mexico, Colombia and Panama, and the Venezuelans themselves, are looking for a negotiated settlement with Maduro so that President-Elect Gonzalez can begin the peaceful transition back to a democratic Venezuela. It would be the best outcome for the entire Western Hemisphere.
There may not be much time left for Maduro to see that the patience of many will wear thin if he continues his obstinate stance.
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