By Marianna Parraga, Mayela Armas and Diego Oré
CARACAS/MEXICO CITY (Reuters) – Venezuela’s government and the country’s opposition plan to resume dialogues in Mexico as soon as this month after a protracted delay, and are expected to concentrate on negotiating conditions for a presidential election, 4 sources near the talks said.
Last yr, delegations representing President Nicolas Maduro and the opposition led by Juan Guaido made no progress on resolving the nation’s deep political crisis, which has stoked a sometimes-chaotic migration wave of over 7 million people.
“We’re working on resuming the dialogue process in November,” said certainly one of the people acquainted with the arrangements.
Maduro and Colombia President Gustavo Petro said in a joint statement on Tuesday they hoped for “a successful return” to the dialogues.
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The renewed talks, again facilitated by the Norwegian government, would cover the election, status of lots of of political prisoners, U.S. sanctions on Venezuela and a “social agreement” that may enable distribution of $3 billion in goods and investment for humanitarian aid from a U.N.-administered fund.
Resumption of the dialogue has repeatedly been delayed by disagreements on terms, especially elections, a subject which will again force last-minute changes, including possibly postponing discussion to a second meeting, certainly one of the sources said.
Venezuela’s information ministry, opposition’s envoy Gerardo Blyde, the Norwegian government and Mexico’s foreign affairs ministry didn’t immediately reply to requests for comment.
Several parties warned Washington in October they’re unwilling to support U.S.-backed Guaido’s interim government in 2023. This makes resumption of talks crucial for the opposition coalition, which has been diminished by exile, imprisonment of leaders, internal fractures and lack of funds.
The talks were abandoned by Maduro’s envoys a yr ago after disagreements over the extradition of an ally of the Venezuelan president who faces money laundering charges.
Maduro had said his government wouldn’t return to talks unless all U.S. sanctions were lifted, while the opposition has insisted on guarantees for a good and transparent presidential vote, supervised by foreign observers, in late 2023 or 2024.
The U.S. government has tried to encourage dialogue, easing some sanctions and freeing two relatives of the Venezuelan fist lady, who were jailed on drug trafficking charges.
Maduro also released six former executives of U.S.-based refiner Citgo Petroleum.
U.S. President Joe Biden’s administration, attempting to increase global oil supplies to bring down prices which have surged since Russia invaded Ukraine, has said the dialogue progress could trigger sanctions relief, including a license for U.S. oil company Chevron to expand operations in Venezuela.
A growing influx of Venezuelan migrants to the USA can be prompting Washington to search for solutions to the South American country’s crisis.
(Reporting by Marianna Parraga, Mayela Armas, Deisy Buitrago and Diego Ore; Writing by Marianna Parraga; Editing by David Gregorio)
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