Venezuelan negotiations with Dominican flavor
Government and opposition gathered in Santo Domingo to seek an agreement that may save Venezuela from the crisis
Despite the exhaustive nature of the Venezuelan political crisis, the government and the opposition have agreed, after nearly nine hours of tight talks, with Dominican President Danilo Medina and former Spanish leader José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero, that Mexico, Chile, Bolivia, and Nicaragua accompany an eventual dialogue and do not rule out including two European countries. The Dominican Republic has been chosen to host the negotiations.
The Venezuelan deputy and negotiator of the opposition to an eventual dialogue with the Venezuelan government, Luis Florido, said that negotiations have not been initiated as such, but talks in the Dominican Republic are an exploratory process, in which guarantees are required to achieve concrete solutions and safe advances. “They are exploratory meetings, exploration is not a process as such neither of dialogue nor of negotiation, we have learned the lesson with the Government,” the deputy stated.
Florido also specified that if an agreement is reached between the opposition and the government, it is necessary to be submitted to a popular referendum that guarantees them.
President of the National Assembly, Julio Borges, expressed with enthusiasm that what is happening today is a triumph given that the international pressure and the Venezuelan citizenship has caused the regime of Nicolas Maduro to accept a negotiation. In return, he assures that unlike the table of dialogue of 2016 “the Venezuelan government has been more open to the signing of a more rational pact”.
President Nicolas Maduro described as “an important historic achievement” that has been able to “set up the dialogue” and said that it is expected to have an agreement at a close date that he will sign if it considers it helps a healthy coexistence and peace In Venezuela. It should be noted that only a roadmap between the parties was consolidated.
On the other hand, the opposition coalition – Mesa de Unidad Democratica (MUD) – said in a statement that in the rapprochement, a timetable for the implementation of agreements “with guarantees and international support” has been established. Among the demands presented by the opposition are the renewal of the electoral power, loyal to Maduro, “the establishment of an electoral calendar with guarantees of neatness, without disqualified,” including the presidential election, with qualified international observation. As well as the release of political prisoners.
The news about the exploratory dialogues was well received by the Latin American countries who celebrated the rapprochements and emphasized the importance of these for the stability of the region. For its part, the US government, through a statement from the State Department stated that “reiterates its call for the complete restoration of democracy in Venezuela. We support serious negotiations that in good faith achieve this objective “, underlines the announcement.
Latin American Post | Carlos Eduardo Gómez Avella
Copy edited by Susana Cicchetto
