Caracas.- Chavismo and the Venezuelan opposition are holding a meeting this Wednesday at a hotel in Caracas to close the first cycle of the dialogue promoted by the U.S., which lasted for a week to address the consequences of the earthquakes on June 24 and the reinstitutionalization of the Supreme Court of Justice and the National Electoral Council, both accused of being aligned with the Government.
The meeting, like all those held so far since August 6th when the cycle began, is being held behind closed doors at the Gran Meliá Caracas hotel, where earlier there was a protest by union members to demand that presidential elections be held this year.
So far, the only thing that has been reported is that the opposition delegation received several groups of activists and civil society representatives in recent days who advocated for the inclusion in the dialogue of freedom of expression, the release of political prisoners, the increase of salaries and pensions, and other issues.
Dialogues between Chavismo and the opposition in Venezuela
Chavismo and an opposition sector inaugurated the first cycle of negotiations with an eye on a transition, following the capture of Maduro by U.S. troops last January.
The parties, led by the head of Parliament, the Chavista Jorge Rodríguez, and former deputy Dinorah Figuera, on the opposition side, had their first telephone contact on August 1.
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The process does not include the participation of opposition leaders María Corina Machado and Edmundo González Urrutia.
Figuera, who defends the continuity of the Parliament elected in 2015, then controlled by the opposition, is accompanied in the dialogue by former deputies Marco Aurelio Quiñones, Ramón López, Jorge Millán, Juan Miguel Matheus, Sergio Vergara, and Desiree Barboza.
Delegation agreements
While alongside Rodríguez are the Minister of University Education, Ana María Sanjuán; the first vice president of Parliament, Pedro Infante; and deputies América Pérez, Génesis Garvett, and Jorge Arreaza.
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On August 6, both delegations signed the principles of respect for national sovereignty, good faith negotiation and the search for benefits for Venezuela, a political, peaceful, democratic and constitutional solution, recognition and respect between the parties, political equality and equal treatment at the table.
Also, they agreed on the verifiable fulfillment of commitments and the protection of the human and political rights of “all forces”.
The United States has expressed its “satisfaction” with the start of the dialogue and stated that it “contributes significantly to the three-phase plan” established by Washington to achieve a “transition to democratic elections.”
