Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro with his Colombian counterpart Gustavo Petro attends a ceremony at the Miraflores Presidential Palace in Caracas, Venezuela, Tuesday, November 1, 2022. The Venezuelan government and opposition delegations are preparing to resume talks in Mexico in mid-November to discuss a possible humanitarian deal and terms for the upcoming presidential election, three sources familiar with the talks told The Associated Press on Tuesday. ( Associated Press photo/Ariana Cubilos)
Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro with his Colombian counterpart Gustavo Petro attends a ceremony at the Miraflores Presidential Palace in Caracas, Venezuela, Tuesday, November 1, 2022. The Venezuelan government and opposition delegations are preparing to resume talks in Mexico in mid-November to discuss a possible humanitarian deal and terms for the upcoming presidential election, three sources familiar with the talks told The Associated Press on Tuesday. ( Associated Press photo/Ariana Cubilos)
MEXICO CITY ( Associated Press) – The Venezuelan government and opposition delegations prepare to resume talks in Mexico in mid-November to discuss a possible humanitarian agreement and terms for the upcoming presidential elections.
More than a year after the suspension of talks, representatives of Nicolas Maduro’s government and the opposition are preparing to resume them in the coming days in Mexico City, three people close to the talks told the Associated Press. were not identified because they were not authorized to speak publicly on the subject.
As an alternate date, resumption of the process is being considered at the Norwegian facility next week, but everything will depend on the Venezuelan government delegation confirming attendance in the coming days.
A possible humanitarian settlement to address the social crisis in Venezuela will be ushered in a new round of negotiations; extension of the operating license of the American oil company Chevron in the territory of Venezuela; and a definition of the conditions for the presidential election which is scheduled for 2024 but may be brought forward.
The humanitarian settlement, which will include a fund of about $3,000 million, to be administered by the United Nations, will be a central issue in the talks, a source said on condition of anonymity because he is not authorized to speak.
For many years, Venezuela has been engulfed in a complex political, economic and social crisis that has affected most of the poorer regions, which represent about 95% of the population of the approximately 28 million inhabitants, and the mass migration of more than is encouraged. 7 million people.
Last May, the US Treasury Department renewed Chevron’s license to continue operating in Venezuela. Washington is set to ease sanctions and extend the oil company’s licenses, but has made authorization conditional on the Venezuelan government sitting to negotiate with the opposition. For three years, the United States imposed sanctions on the Maduro government after questioning the 2018 elections, in which he was re-elected for a six-year term.
Between August and September last year, government and opposition representatives participated in a negotiating process that came to nothing. On that occasion, Maduro’s team postponed negotiations to protest the extradition of Colombian businessman Alex Saab from Cape Verde to the United States, who faces charges of laundering hundreds of millions of dollars from allegedly corrupt deals with the Maduro government. does.
The Joe Biden administration is interested in the government and the opposition to begin negotiations to attempt a way out of the Venezuelan crisis that has been brewing for many years and has led to mass migration into the region that is already in the United States. has affected. , Faced with a growing influx of Venezuelan migrants, Washington last month restricted asylum and implemented a plan for 24,000 humanitarian visas.
