MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 26th April, 2023) Participants of the International Conference on the Political Process in Venezuela have called for setting the schedule for the next presidential election in the country, confirmed the need to lift sanctions against Venezuela and speed up the return of frozen assets to Caracas, according to the meeting's final declaration.
The conference, which was convened by Colombian President Gustavo Petro and brought together officials from about 20 countries, kicked off in the Colombian capital, Bogota, on Tuesday.
"Common positions were identified on the following topics: (first,) the need to establish an electoral schedule that allows the holding of free, transparent elections with full guarantees for all Venezuelan actors ... (Second,) That the steps agreed to the satisfaction of the parties go in parallel with the lifting of the different sanctions. (Third,) that the continuation of the negotiation process ... be accompanied by the acceleration of the implementation of the single trust fund for social investment in Venezuela," the declaration released by the Colombian Foreign Ministry read.
The delegations that attended the conference in Bogota at the invitation of the Colombian leader will be "promptly convened for a second opportunity to follow up on the developments of what has been achieved," according to the statement.
Last Saturday, Venezuelan Vice President Delcy Rodriguez said that Caracas had lost $232 billion since 2015, when the administration of then-US President Barack Obama imposed sanctions on the South American country.
Obama declared Venezuela a national security threat and ordered the US Treasury Department to freeze foreign property and assets of several Venezuelan officials in 2015. Washington has since expanded the sanctions regime.
In 2019, the United States imposed comprehensive sanctions on the country, targeting its oil and financial industries as well as freezing its reserves, in response to a political crisis that saw Venezuelan opposition leader Juan Guaido proclaiming himself interim president.
