Exclusivity – Talks between the Venezuelan government and the opposition scheduled for August -sources
By Vivian Sequera and Mayela Armas
– Representatives of the Venezuelan government and opposition are expected to meet in Mexico from August for a new round of negotiations aimed at ending the deep political crisis in the South American country, said five people close to the folder.
The dialogue would be mediated by international parties and is supported by Norway, which acted as a mediator in a previous negotiation attempt in 2019 and is currently in contact with both parties to set the agenda, have indicated the sources.
A Norwegian delegation is visiting Caracas this week, a source said.
President Nicolas Maduro, who oversaw an economic collapse in a once prosperous country OPEC nation, said he was ready to negotiate with opposition leader Juan Guaido, but only on a program focused on lifting US sanctions.
Washington accuses Maduro of rights violations and of rigging his re-election in 2018. Maduro denies these accusations.
Guaido, on the other hand, said his delegation was seeking conditions for free and fair presidential and parliamentary elections.
Planned negotiations come two weeks after chief diplomats from the United States, Canada and the European Union said they would be willing to revise their sanctions against Maduro’s government if the negotiations lead to “significant progress “towards transparent elections.
The return to the negotiating table represents a change of course for the opposition, which has in the past accused Maduro’s government of using rounds of dialogue to buy time and defuse international pressure.
The government withdrew from the 2019 cycle, held in Barbados, after former US President Donald Trump tightened sanctions to oust Maduro.
The administration of President Joe Biden, which says it is reviewing the sanctions policies it inherited, has not relaxed sanctions on Venezuela’s oil and financial sectors and has maintained its support for Guaido, recognized as the country’s legitimate leader. from South America by Washington and dozens of other Western democracies.
Delegations from both sides will be larger in relation to the Barbados round, the sources said.
“It’s a more comprehensive and complex process that hasn’t existed until now,” one of the sources said.
The Norwegian Foreign Ministry referred to a May 10 statement in which it said it remained in “regular contact with Venezuela’s political and social actors” and called for a “peaceful, inclusive and lasting solution to the crisis in Venezuela “.
Neither Mexico’s Foreign Ministry nor Venezuela’s Information Ministry immediately responded to requests for comment.
Representatives of Guaido recently traveled to Washington, Brussels and Madrid to mobilize support for the opposition’s draft “national salvation” plan, which would make the gradual lifting of sanctions conditional on the advent of free and fair elections. and the entry of humanitarian aid.
More than two years of diplomatic pressure and international sanctions were not enough to oust Maduro, who calls Guaido an American puppet seeking to overthrow him in a coup and retains the support of Russia, China and Cuba , as well as the Venezuelan armed forces.