Cuban dissident briefly detained in Panama ahead of Summit

PANAMA CITY, Panama, April 6 (UPI) -- Rosa María Payá, daughter of the late high-profile Cuban dissident Oswaldo Payá, was detained briefly on Sunday in Panama and threatened with deportation to Cuba.

Payá, 26, was detained in Panama's Tocumen airport where she was told she would be "deported to Cuba if you cause any disturbance, you carry a banner... Go to your country to cause trouble," according to an account she gave on Twitter.

"Now they put me in detention, said they are checking my documents. I'm somewhere in the Tocumen Airport," she wrote. "They checked everything I had in my wallet, including my underwear. At one point they took sight of my personal agenda with all my notes."

Gracias a todos por su solidaridad, yo aun bien He entrado al fin oficialmente en Panamá bajo amenaza de seguridad del estado PanameñoCubana

— Rosa María Payá A. (@RosaMariaPaya) April 5, 2015

"Thank you all for your solidarity, I am well. I have finally officially entered Panama under threat of the PanamanianCuban state security," she tweeted.

Panama's foreign ministry released a statement apologizing for the incident after her release.

"The foreign ministry apologizes for the bureaucratic mistake made and has taken steps to ensure that it does not reoccur," the ministry said.

Payá traveled to Cuba ahead of the Summit of the Americas held in Panama City, where the presidents of Cuba and the United States will hold a meeting for the first time in more than 50 years in an attempt to further normalize diplomatic relations. Former President U.S Bill Clinton, Argentine President Cristina Kirchner and Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff will attend, along with other heads of state and officials.

Payá's father, Oswaldo, was a Cuban dissident who was killed in a single-car crash in 2012, according to Cuban authorities.