Russia Shows Interest in Panama Security

Vice President Juan Carlos Varela  met with a Russian delegation led by Nikolai Platanovich Patrushev, president of the Russian Federations’ Security Council, to discuss the reactivation of the Mechanism of Political Consultations between the two countries.

Items discussed included the suppression of visas in order to promote investment and tourism, as well as establishing parameters for cooperation in matters of security.

Panama and Russia established diplomatic relations on March 29, 1991 and maintain agreements in commercial matters, air transportation, foreign relations consultation and the fight against narcotrafficking.

In somewhat related news, in December of 2008, a Russian ship sailed through the Panama Canal for the first time since WWII, a symbolic message in what the US sees as its sphere of influence.

The Kremlin in Moscow on a Cloudy Day