A plan for Venezuela’s government and opposition to sign a framework agreement to kick off talks to end the years-long political impasse ran into trouble when the government rejected one of the opposition’s envoys, sources tell Bloomberg News.
By Aljazeera – Alex Vasquez
Aug 13, 2021
A plan for Venezuela’s government and opposition to sign a negotiating agreement in México ran into trouble when the government rejected one of the opposition’s envoys.
Representatives of President Nicolas Maduro refused to join the meeting if Carlos Vecchio, ambassador to Washington for opposition leader Juan Guaido, remained on the delegation, two people with knowledge of the matter said.
Since Maduro doesn’t recognize Guaido’s shadow government or its embassies, Vecchio must either leave the delegation or abandon his role as ambassador, the government representatives told the opposition. Guaido’s delegates rejected the demand, the people said.
The plan has been for the two parties, already in México, to spend the coming three days focused on a framework agreement. It would launch months of wide-ranging negotiations aimed at ending a five-year political impasse and addressing the nation’s economic collapse.
The preliminary round was due to start Friday. The document they expect to sign is a memorandum of understanding drafted by Norwegian mediators and the parties, according to five people with direct knowledge of the talks.
It sets terms for future meetings to discuss topics including relief from international sanctions, how to manage Venezuela’s frozen assets abroad, potential for financial aid, human rights and the schedule for upcoming elections, according to one of the people who requested anonymity as the details are not public.
The sides are trying to reach an accord ahead of elections on Nov. 21 for mayoral and gubernatorial posts across the country. Opposition parties have boycotted several previous votes, arguing they lacked basic safeguards to make them free and fair.
Long-Term Agreement
Stalin González, former vice president of the National Assembly who will represent the opposition, said that once the memo is signed the sides will return to México later this month or in early September to begin negotiations.
“The regime doesn’t have the capacity to solve this situation by itself,” he said of the country’s economic collapse. “We’ll look for ways to resolve this and help the people. It has to be a long-term agreement.”
Several previous rounds of negotiations ended in failure, including talks in Barbados in 2019, which were also overseen by Norway. This round has a better chance of succeeding as the two sides and foreign governments, including the U.S. and European Union, are more open to finding middle ground on issues like humanitarian assistance and human rights, said Maryhen Jimenez, a political scientist at the University of Oxford who studies Venezuela.
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