Chavismo and the Venezuelan opposition hold first meeting under US supervision
Afterwards, the parties said they would remain in continuous working sessions until August 12, when they will decide whether to continue the talks. Opposition leader María Corina Machado has been left out of the process
Talks between Delcy Rodríguez’s government and the opposition began Thursday behind closed doors with a meeting in Caracas between the president of the National Assembly, Jorge Rodríguez, and Dinorah Figuera, the opposition figure that Washington has chosen to lead the negotiations. Delegations from both sides met at the La Carlota Convention Center, where the United Socialist Party of Venezuela (PSUV) holds its press briefings, and posed unsmiling for the official photo. The press was not allowed access to the meeting. Later, in an identical statement published by both parties, they said their teams would remain in continuous working sessions until August 12, when they will decide whether to continue the talks.
“The parties subscribe to the principles of respect for national sovereignty, negotiation in good faith and the search for benefits for Venezuela,” states the document published by Jorge Rodríguez on social media. It adds: “A political, peaceful, democratic and constitutional solution; mutual recognition and respect between the parties; political equality and equal treatment at the table; verifiable fulfillment of commitments; protection of human rights and the political rights of all forces.”
The first meeting received the blessing of the United States. While the teams were together, the State Department issued a statement saying “these direct talks present a unique opportunity.” Washington has designed this dialogue and imposed Dinorah Figuera on the opposition to carry out the negotiations. On Thursday it said it remains “committed to supporting this Venezuelan-led process, which plays a key role in the President’s three-phase plan to bring about stabilization, economic recovery and political reconciliation, and a peaceful transition.” The statement urged Venezuelans to back the effort.
The opposition delegation included Marco Aurelio Quiñones, Desiree Barboza, Ramón López, Jorge Millán and Juan Miguel Matheus, leaders of Voluntad Popular and Primero Justicia and, together with Figuera, members of the 2015 National Assembly, the institution that the United States recognized during Donald Trump’s first administration as democratically elected after the opposition won its first electoral victory over Chavismo with a qualified majority, leading Juan Guaidó to set up an interim administration. On the Chavista side, representatives included the minister of University Education, Ana María San Juan, along with the lawmakers Jorge Arreaza, América Pérez, Génesis Garvett and Pedro Infante.
“Today we opened the process that will chart the course toward democracies and the reinstitutionalization of Venezuela between the deputies of the 2015 Assembly and representatives of the interim government,” Figuera wrote on her social media after the meeting. “We are working firmly for the democracy and freedom of Venezuelans.” Jorge Rodríguez also posted photos of the meeting with a shorter message: “The national dialogue begins with former deputies of the 2015 National Assembly.”
The gathering was designed in Marco Rubio’s office and has raised expectations that it could finally find a way out of the country’s political crisis. Within the opposition spectrum, however, the initiative has been seen as a negotiation between the Rodríguez family and Washington.
The topics up for discussion were announced on August 1, when the sides held a phone call. Assistance for those affected by the earthquakes, strengthening democracy and guarantees of political and civil rights are the three points on the agenda. Within those limits, it is understood that there will be a renewal of the electoral and judicial authorities, that bans on political parties will be lifted and that a calendar will be set for presidential, regional and parliamentary elections — the opposition’s main demand — in addition to the release of all political prisoners.
The meeting was convened after news emerged of the death under house arrest of Venezuelan-Uruguayan citizen José Breijo, 71, who had been imprisoned for two years for taking a photo and who this year was granted house arrest on humanitarian health grounds.
This new dialogue has met resistance. In particular, opposition sectors question the legitimacy of the representation. Longtime opposition leader María Corina Machado has been sidelined by a decision of the United States and to the satisfaction of Chavismo, which has readily accepted Figuera as a valid interlocutor. Machado has acknowledged she was not consulted about this initiative — which has been gestating since April — but said she will not be an obstacle to achieving its objectives. From the chavista side, Diosdado Cabello, the third pillar holding power since January 3, dismissed the process and said that “every day there are dialogues in this country.”
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