The government of Venezuela had been engaged in secret talks with supporters of the US-backed opposition leader and self-proclaimed president of the country, Juan Guaido, from January to April, Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro said
MEXICO CITY (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 18th September, 2019) The government of Venezuela had been engaged in secret talks with supporters of the US-backed opposition leader and self-proclaimed president of the country, Juan Guaido, from January to April, Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro said.
"From January to April, we held secret negotiations with Guaido's followers ... Despite statements that the opposition would not negotiate with the regime, many representatives of Guaido, namely [opposition lawmaker and negotiator] Stalin Gonzalez, [former Caracas-area mayor] Gerardo Blyde, [former transport minister] Fernando Martinez Mottola, spoke with us," Maduro said in a televised statement broadcast on his official Twitter on Tuesday.
Since May, the Venezuelan government and opposition had been engaged in official negotiations mediated by the Norwegian government. In August, Maduro stopped negotiations with the opposition in protest of Washington's freeze of all assets held by the Venezuelan government in the United States.
"They [Guaido team] claimed they could convince the United States to lift sanctions. We were waiting from May to August, and as a result, in August, we received new, brutal sanctions. Their word does not mean anything, and they do not have the necessary capabilities. Therefore, in August we withdrew our proposals and stopped [Norway-mediated] meetings in Barbados," Maduro added.
Earlier in September, the Venezuelan authorities announced the launch of the dialogue with a number of small opposition political parties. The participants of the dialogue include the Movement for Socialism party, Progressive Advance and others. According to the Venezuelan state television, some agreements have already been achieved, like the return of the United Socialist Party of Venezuela to the country's parliament, release of prisoners, denouncement of the US sanctions, changes in the electoral process.
Venezuela has been suffering from severe political crisis since late January when US-backed opposition leader Guaido proclaimed himself interim president in a bid to oust Maduro from power. Maduro has accused Guaido of being a US puppet, working with Washington to orchestrate a coup so that the United States can control Venezuela's natural resources.
