Government and opposition of Venezuela resume dialogue in Mexico City 3:21
(CNN Spanish) --
This weekend in Mexico a new round of talks between the Venezuelan government and the opposition will begin in order to, in principle, reach a "partial agreement on social matters", with additional ingredients in this round : Camila Fabri, the wife of Colombian Alex Saab, will be in the official delegation and the presence of the United States will be in the background.
This is what we know about this new round of talks between the Venezuelan government and the opposition.
A new chapter opens
This weekend in Mexico the government and the Venezuelan opposition will sit down at the table to restart talks to find a solution to the country's chronic economic and political crisis after months of discreet talks behind closed doors.
We announce that the Government of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela and the Unitary Platform of Venezuela have decided to resume the dialogue and negotiation process in Mexico on November 26, facilitated by Norway.
There the parties will sign a partial agreement on social matters
— Norway in MX and CA (@NoruegaMexCA) November 24, 2022
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In two statements published at the same time this Thursday, the government and opposition delegations announced that they will travel to Mexico City this Saturday to sign a joint agreement to increase international aid to Venezuela.
The agreement was negotiated by the Kingdom of Norway with the support of the Mexican Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the US Department of State, and follows a previous session of talks that lasted from 2019 to 2021.
The announcement came after months of arduous rapprochement between the two parties and intense diplomatic pressure from the international community.
Norway will be the mediating country in these negotiations, while Mexico will host the negotiations.
Meanwhile, the president of Colombia, Gustavo Petro, has closely followed these negotiations, so much so that he made the announcement of the restart of the dialogues before the official news was released.
Petro arrived in Mexico this Thursday and is expected to meet with his Mexican counterpart, Andrés Manuel López Obrador, this Friday.
The dialogues will be mediated by the international community.
The president of Mexico, Andrés Manuel López Obrador, said at a press conference that his country "will always help to seek peace, to avoid confrontation (...) And this is everyone's home and we appreciate that they have that confidence to come here to carry out these dialogues, which we hope will give good results," reported Reuters
Government and opposition of Venezuela restart this Saturday the negotiation process in Mexico
The points that will be negotiated by the Government and the opposition
The director of the Norwegian Center for Conflict Resolution (NOREF), the Norwegian Dag Nylander (C), speaks during a press conference with the head of the Venezuelan government delegation, Jorge Rodríguez (R), and the head of the delegation of the Venezuelan opposition, Gerardo Blyde Pérez (L), in the hotel where the negotiations between the Venezuelan government and the opposition are taking place in Mexico City, on September 27, 2021. (Photo by CLAUDIO CRUZ / AFP)
Negotiations between the parties will focus on three main areas, some people involved in the process told CNN anonymously, for fear of undermining the success of the new talks:
The creation of an international fund to address the humanitarian crisis in Venezuela, administered by the United Nations and backed by Venezuelan foreign reserves.
The partial relief of the sanctions of the United States Department of the Treasury against the Venezuelan oil industry.
The guarantees of fair and free elections to choose the next president of Venezuela.
A statement published by the Venezuelan delegation says that the agreement "creates a practical mechanism, aimed at addressing social and vital needs and addressing public service problems, based on the recovery of legitimate resources, property of the Venezuelan State, which are currently blocked in the international financial system”.
In the dialogues, in addition to the sanctions, an attempt would be made to cover the presidential elections, scheduled for 2024, the status of hundreds of political prisoners, and that social agreement would seek to assist at least 50% of the Venezuelan population, of 28 million of inhabitants, who live in poverty, according to data revealed this month by the ENCOVI study, the most important that measures the living conditions of the population, reported Reuters.
The recognition of Juan Guaidó as interim president of Venezuela will end in 2023, according to two sources.
Guaidó denies it
Alex Saab in the shadow of negotiations
A statement from Jorge Rodríguez, spokesman for the Venezuelan government for these talks, informed that Camila Fabri, wife of Alex Saab, will be part of the government delegation for this new round of negotiations.
Camilla Fabri, the wife of Colombian businessman Alex Saab, who was extradited to the US, speaks during a demonstration to demand his release, in the Plaza de Bolívar in Caracas, on October 17, 2021. (Credit: FEDERICO PARRA / AFP via Getty Images)
The government delegation asks that the US release Saab and can join the Maduro government delegation as a member.
Previous negotiations came to a halt in October 2021 when the Venezuelan government walked out of the table in retaliation for the extradition to the United States of Alex Saab, a Colombian businessman closely linked to the Venezuelan leader.
"By virtue of this very serious action, our delegation announces that it is suspending its participation in the negotiation and dialogue table, consequently we will not attend the round that was to begin tomorrow, October 17, in Mexico City, as a profound expression of our protest against the brutal aggression against the person and the investiture of our delegate Álex Saab Morán", said then the president of the National Assembly and representative of the official delegation, Jorge Rodríguez at a press conference.
This Thursday, President Maduro mentioned the return to talks with the opposition and said that "we dialogue with the embittered."
"We have engaged in dialogue with the extremist sector (...) the political sector dependent on the United States," Maduro said during a broadcast on state television in which he added that the dialogue will be "in function of recovering the sequestered resources to invest them in the town. Later we will see what other issues can be discussed with this opposition," Reuters reported.
The keys to Álex Saab's audience in the US 3:46
What does the opposition say?
The Unitary Platform, a group that represents the opposition in Venezuela for this dialogue, issued a statement confirming its participation in the new round of negotiations to be held in Mexico and which will have the mediation of the international community.
"We ratify, on behalf of the Unitary Platform, the willingness to work together, in order to reach agreements that allow the mechanisms that ensure the well-being of all Venezuelans to materialize," says the opposition statement.
Opposition leader Juan Guaidó said that "the solutions that Venezuela needs are urgent and no interest should come before the emergency."
Guaidó also called for a "comprehensive agreement."
Has the interim government of Guaidó fulfilled its role?
2:36
The role of the United States in the dialogues
The United States will have a direct role in these dialogues due to the points put on the table, such as the point of lifting the sanctions imposed by the United States on Venezuela since 2017.
US Assistant Secretary for the Western Hemisphere Brian Nichols said on Twitter that he expected delegates from both sides to "work towards alleviating the humanitarian challenges" facing Venezuelans and holding "free and fair elections." .
Over the summer, the United States pardoned two Maduro relatives convicted of drug trafficking in exchange for the release of eight US citizens and permanent residents detained in Venezuela as a show of support for the talks.
The United States is also preparing an expanded license for the operations of the Chevron oil company in Venezuela if the meeting between the Venezuelan government and the opposition takes place, three sources with knowledge of the negotiations told CNN.
Chevron, the largest US oil company, is expected to get Washington's approval to expand its operations in Venezuela as early as Saturday.
The approval would allow it to produce and export crude, according to a Reuters report.
A member of the "Citgo 6" is released from prison in Venezuela 2:15
How is the situation in Venezuela right now?
Venezuela, the most unequal country in the world, according to Encovi 2:44
Venezuela has suffered a deep economic decline since 2014 due to chronic mismanagement and a collapse in the price of oil, the country's main export.
In 2019, the crisis escalated into a full-blown institutional conflict with two leaders claiming the country's presidency, strongman Maduro and opposition leader Juan Guaidó.
Although Guaidó's presidency was recognized by more than 50 countries around the world, including the United States, Maduro maintained control over the country's institutions and the Armed Forces.
A revival in oil prices, liberalization reforms, and an informal dollarization of Venezuela's economy have eased the economic crisis in recent months, yet more than 80% of Venezuelans still live below the poverty line. according to an independent survey by the Andrés Bello Catholic University in Caracas.
Analysts say that the country's economy had already suffered since 2014, when the sanctions did not yet exist.
The arrival of hyperinflation at the end of 2017 and the deepening of the economic crisis led some seven million Venezuelans to migrate to other countries, reported Reuters.
Since the end of last year, the economy has rebounded after the government relaxed controls on the economy in 2019 and allowed foreign currency transactions, giving oxygen to various sectors, Reuters added.
-- With information from Karina Piarisi of CNN en Español, Stefano Pozzebón of CNN in Bogotá and Reuters.
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