Venezuelan Interior Minister Diosdado Cabello affirmed that the dialogue between the interim government and the opposition constitutes a “victory” for Venezuela’s stability.
Seven months after Nicolás Maduro‘s arrest during a US military operation, representatives of acting President Delcy Rodríguez and members of the opposition will hold their first round of direct talks in Caracas this week, at a date yet to be announced.
Opposition leader and Nobel Peace Prize laureate María Corina Machado will not attend the dialogue, as US President Donald Trump has expressed satisfaction with Rodríguez’s performance.
Last weekend, Machado distanced herself from the dialogue, announcing from Panama, where she currently resides, that she would not participate in the dialogue, while assuring that she would not oppose the process.
The first meeting is scheduled to discuss several issues, notably the response to the two earthquakes that struck the country on June 24, killing more than 6,000 people, as well as strengthening democracy, rights, and political guarantees.
Machado is demanding recognition of the opposition candidate, Edmundo González Urrutia, as the winner in the July 28, 2024, elections, in which Maduro was declared the winner for a third consecutive term, amid allegations of fraud and protests that resulted in 28 deaths and the arrest of more than 2,400 others.
Caballo said, “Some in the opposition consider dialogue a surrender, and this is not true. We are open to dialogue.”
The official from the ruling Socialist Party, for whose capture the United States has offered up to $25 million reward, added, “Don’t forget that many in the opposition created the transitional phase to violate the constitution, and today they are advancing while carrying that same constitution. For us, this is a victory; for the country, this is a victory; and for stability, this is a victory.”
Meanwhile, the president of the Inter-American Development Bank ruled out an immediate resumption of lending to Venezuela following the restoration of bilateral relations after an eight-year hiatus.
“There are several points that need to be resolved before we can resume lending to Venezuela,” said the bank’s Brazilian president, Ilan Goldfein, during a press conference in Uruguay’s capital Montevideo. The bank suspended its loans to Venezuela in May 2018 after Caracas defaulted on its debt. (AFP)
