The President of Venezuela announced the restart, on Wednesday, of the dialogue process with the United States, after having received proposals to resume talks for two months.
“I received a proposal for two continuous months from the United States Government to reestablish talks and direct dialogue, after thinking about it for two months I accepted, next Wednesday the talks with the USA will be restarted”, said Nicolás Maduro, on Monday, on his weekly television program.
Maduro stressed that this new round of negotiations will be for the United States to “comply with the agreements signed in Qatar and reestablish the terms of the dialogue with respect, without manipulation.”
And he added: “Furthermore, there must be public dialogues, without speculation, we will not hide.”
The Venezuelan President indicated that the leader of parliament, Jorge RodrÃguez, will be the representative of the Caribbean nation in this dialogue process, together with the governor of the state of Miranda (north), Héctor RodrÃguez.
“We will debate and look for new agreements so that what was signed in Qatar is fulfilled, I want dialogue, I want understanding, I want a future for our relations, I want changes, yes, under the absolute sovereignty and independence of Venezuela,” he said.
Since March 2022, when a White House delegation traveled to Caracas to meet with Maduro, talks between the US and Venezuela have been inconsistent and intermittent.
The meetings were later repeated in several locations, with at least a second visit by a US mission to Caracas.
Among the agreements reached was the partial lifting of US sanctions on Venezuela last October, a relief that was reversed six months later, when Caracas – in agreement with Washington – did not comply with the terms of the Barbados Agreement signed with the opposition.
One of the failures pointed out by the US is that the disqualifications of all Venezuelan opposition politicians under administrative sanctions were not lifted, such as leader María Corina Machado, who cannot run for office. presidential elections on July 28 due to this measure.
However, Venezuela obtained the release of Colombian businessman Alex Saab, who was detained in Miami until last December, in exchange for the release by Venezuelan authorities of around 30 people classified as political prisoners. .
