Who will represent the Venezuelan opposition and who will represent the Nicolás Maduro regime at the dialogue table in Mexico

Nicolás Maduro’s regime and the Venezuelan opposition return to the negotiating table on Friday, with an agenda focused on international sanctions, the release of political prisoners and electoral conditions.

Norway-mediated meeting to be held in Mexico, after a failed attempt in Barbados in 2019. A year earlier, there had been another in the Dominican Republic led by former Spanish President José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero.

In a statement, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Mexico said that this Friday afternoon the “Inauguration of the negotiation and dialogue process in Venezuela”.

He explained that at the request of the parties concerned, strict health and safety protocols will be followed among media representatives participating in the dialogue due to the pandemic. In addition, he recalled that to enter the meeting place it will be mandatory to wear personal protective equipment (face masks).

Representatives of the opposition and the Maduro regime who will take their places at the table

Because the opposition will be:

– Stalin Gonzalez, of the Un Nuevo Tiempo formation, former member of parliament and spokesperson for the opposition in the Oslo-Barbados dialogue process.

– Thomas guanipa, General Secretary of Primero Justicia. It will be the voice of the leader of this party, Henrique Capriles. He is also the ambassador of the so-called interim government in Colombia.

– Gerardo Blyde, constitutional expert, former mayor and former deputy. He has a fluid dialogue with the Maduro government.

– Father of Luis Emilio Rondón, from A New Time.

– Mariela Magallanes, by La Cause R.

By the diet:

– Jorge Rodriguez, president of the National Assembly elected in 2020, former vice-president of the executive, former mayor of Caracas and former president of the National Electoral Council, with studies in psychiatric medicine.

– Hector Rodriguez, governor of the central state of Miranda, former minister of sports and youth under the leadership of Maduro, 39.

– Nicolas Maduro Guerra, deputy (son of Nicolás Maduro Moros).

International actors

the Kingdom of Norway He played the most fundamental role in the process of dialogue that began in Mexico. Its delegates traveled to Venezuela for at least eight months to lead what has been called a “pendulum phase“Meetings with the conflicting parties to reconcile positions and, ultimately, to specify the probable agendas, the deadlines and the places of the talks.

Russia and the European Union are also actively involved in the dialogue. The Foreign Ministry of Vladimir Putin’s government this week promised that the negotiations will include “effective international aid”, Although he affirmed the need for Venezuelans themselves to solve their problems.

Spokesmen for the United States reaffirmed the “urgent need”Dialogue in Venezuela for at least a few months, but has not announced its active participation in the process that begins in Mexico. Your Secretary of State, Antoine Blink, held high-level meetings at the Vatican last June, including a 40-minute meeting with Pope Francis, where he reiterated Washington’s support for Venezuela’s democratic return.

Agenda

The Venezuelan opposition claims two main points. The first requirement is the debate on a calendar of “free and fair” elections which include presidential and national parliamentarians, according to Juan Guaidó. The second is the massive and assiduous influx of humanitarian aid and COVID-19 vaccines in Venezuela. There is a third point, more global, which considers the need for there to be “democratic guarantees”. This request includes the release of at least 268 political prisoners it’s in the country’s prisons, the return of the exiles and the establishment of a “transitional justice”.

Maduro, for his part, on Mexico’s agenda four points initials. The first is the total lifting of economic sanctions imposed by nations and blocs of countries, such as the United States, Canada, and the European Union, against their government institutions and officials.

Then demand the recognition of all institutions in Venezuela, like its presidency, the National Assembly elected in 2020 and the Supreme Court of Justice, which are not perceived as legitimate by a large part of the international community, especially in America and Europe.

In addition, it requires the “return of assets“From Venezuela that some governments and global financial entities have frozen abroad. Maduro often evokes the “sequestration” of several tens of tons of gold from the country’s international reserves which are at the Bank of England.

In recent weeks, Maduro has made a fourth point to include: that “All oppositions” will participate in the dialogue.

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