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MEXICO CITY, Nov. 25 (AP) — Venezuela’s government and its opposition announced the resumption of long-stalled talks over the weekend aimed at finding a common path out of the country’s complex crisis.
The upcoming discussions in Mexico City were announced on Thursday, two weeks after representatives from both sides took part in a roundtable discussion facilitated by French President Emmanuel Macron. Norwegian diplomats will again guide the negotiations.
“We announce that the Government of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela and the Venezuelan Unity Platform have decided to resume the dialogue and negotiation process in Mexico with the assistance of Norway on November 26,” the Norwegian embassy in Mexico tweeted. “There, the parties will sign partial agreements on social matters.”
The dialogue officially began in Mexico in September 2021, but was suspended the following month when President Nicolás Maduro ordered his delegation to withdraw in protest of the extradition of his close ally to the United States.
Talks planned for this weekend are expected to focus on a humanitarian aid package for the cash-strapped South American country and the terms of a presidential election planned for 2024. Maduro and representatives of the opposition, including a U.S.-backed faction led by Juan Guaidó, may also discuss a U.S. extension of oil giant Chevron’s operations in Venezuela.
A United Nations report released earlier this year estimated humanitarian needs at $795 million, reaching some 5.2 million people through health, education, water and sanitation, food and other programs.
In a statement, Maduro’s chief negotiator, National Assembly Speaker Jorge Rodriguez, said the government would sign an agreement in Mexico that would establish a mechanism to address “important social needs and public The issue of services, based on restoring legitimate resources, the property of the Venezuelan state, is today blocked in the international financial system.” He highlighted a range of social needs, including vaccines, medicines, healthcare equipment and energy infrastructure.
However, Rodriguez’s statement did not detail the financial resources he referred to. Under President Donald Trump, the United States has stepped up economic sanctions on Venezuela and authorized Guaido to control Maduro’s government’s bank accounts at the Federal Reserve Bank of New York or any other U.S. insured bank.
Guaidó declared himself Venezuela’s interim president in January 2019, arguing that in his capacity as then-president of the country’s National Assembly the constitution allowed him to form a transitional government because Maduro had been re-elected in a sham vote1 in late 20z. Countries including the United States, Canada and Colombia backed Guaido’s move and began recognizing him as Venezuela’s legitimate leader.
European banks also hold frozen assets in Venezuela.
“We Venezuelans suffer from the consequences of the lack of human rights guarantees and institutional mechanisms to address our needs,” the opposition said in a statement. to find concrete and real agreements that translate into solutions to humanitarian crises, respect for human rights, rule-of-law, and above all conditions and institutions that guarantee free and observable elections.”
Some 7 million people have left Venezuela amid a complex political and humanitarian crisis. Three-quarters of those who remain in the country live on less than $1.90 a day, the international measure of extreme poverty. Many people lack access to cleanliness, running water and electricity.
Maduro’s representatives pulled out of talks in October 2021 after businessman Alex Saab was extradited from Cape Verde to the United States on money-laundering charges. Maduro’s reinstatement was conditional on Saab’s release. He remains in custody, but his wife, Camila Fabri de Saab, will be part of Maduro’s delegation. (Associated Press)
(This is an unedited and auto-generated story from a Syndicated News feed, the content body may not have been modified or edited by LatestLY staff)
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