WASHINGTON (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 24th May, 2019) The United States does not regard Venezuelan opposition leader Juan Guaido's decision to take part in recent talks in Oslo with Venezuela's government as a concession, State Department spokesperson Morgan Ortagus told reporters on Thursday.
Oslo last week hosted talks between Guaido's envoys and representatives of President Nicolas Maduro in a bid to broker an end to the crisis in the Latin American country.
"We don't view that decision for Guaido to send people to Oslo as a concession. We are not the Venezuelan people, nor the government, this is their negotiation," Ortagus said, stressing that Washington does not support democracy under Maduro.
Some observers noted that Guaido's decision to take part in the talks appeared to be an admission of defeat, after he declared himself Venezuela's president and called for a military coup to oust Maduro. The Venezuelan military did not heed Guaido's calls for a coup.
Maduro has repeatedly called for a national dialogue with the opposition to resolve the country's political and economic crises peacefully.
A source close to the Oslo talks told Sputnik on Thursday that the Venezuelan government sent its delegation to the meetings to search for "rapprochement" with the opposition.
Guiaido, on the other hand, insisted that the talks in Oslo were not negotiations, but rather only an attempt to establish dialogue with the government.
When asked about the possible outcome of the Oslo talks, Ortagus said, "I don't want to speculate, we are not a part of them."
Venezuela has been mired in crisis since January, when Guaido proclaimed himself the country's interim president. Washington and its allies endorsed Guaido and called on Maduro to step down. In addition, the United States seized billions of Dollars' worth of Venezuelan oil assets.
Maduro, in turn, has accused the United States of trying to orchestrate a coup in order to install Guaido as its puppet and take over Venezuela's natural resources.
Russia, China, Cuba, Bolivia, Turkey and a number of other countries have voiced their support for Maduro as the only legitimate president of Venezuela.
Notably, Norway was among the EU countries that have not endorsed Guaido as the Venezuelan interim president.
