in US-Backed talks for transition
Jorge Rodríguez, President of the National Assembly and brother of Interim President Delcy Rodríguez, and former lawmaker Dinorah Figuera.
The negotiating table will be convened today at 1:00 p.m. in Venezuela.
By Efecto Cocuyo
HAVANA TIMES – Venezuela’s interim government and an opposition group made up of members of the National Assembly elected in 2015 are holding the first in-person meeting of the US-backed dialogue this Thursday, August 6, in Caracas, aimed at advancing the country’s political transition following the capture of Nicolas Maduro. The talks do not include the leading figure of the country’s main opposition movement and Nobel Peace Prize laureate, Maria Corina Machado.
The two sides will discuss assistance for victims of the recent earthquakes, the “strengthening” of democracy, and “political rights and guarantees,” according to the agreement reached last Saturday, when the process began with a phone call between Jorge Rodriguez, the Chavista government’s chief negotiator and president of Parliament, and former lawmaker Dinorah Figuera, who heads the opposition delegation.
According to the official announcement, the meeting is expected to begin shortly after 1:00 p.m. at the Convention Center in Simón Bolívar Park, located inside the Miranda Air Base in La Carlota. The Chavista-controlled National Assembly has been meeting there recently because the June 24 earthquakes damaged its regular headquarters, the Federal Legislative Palace.
Figuera, who defends the continued legitimacy of the opposition-controlled National Assembly elected in 2015, arrived in Venezuela on Wednesday from Spain accompanied by several other former lawmakers.
Speaking to the local press, the opposition leader reiterated that the agenda for the coming days will focus on addressing the consequences of the twin earthquakes, which left at least 6,125 people dead, more than 16,700 injured, nearly 18,000 homeless, and caused material damage estimated by the World Bank at $19.6 billion.
She also said the talks would address issues such as restructuring the National Electoral Council (CNE)—currently controlled by Chavismo—to make it “credible and trustworthy,” restoring the institutional independence of the Supreme Court (TSJ), and ensuring “guaranteed political and civil rights.”
Figuera also emphasized that the process will take time and that it will not be until next December that “the full results” of the negotiations will be formally presented.
The Participants
Joining Figuera are former opposition lawmakers Marco Aurelio Quiñones, Ramon Lopez, Jorge Millan, Juan Miguel Matheus, and Sergio Vergara.
Representing the government of interim President Delcy Rodriguez will be Minister of University Education Ana Maria Sanjuan; First Vice President of Parliament Pedro Infante; lawmakers America Perez, Genesis Garvett, and Jorge Arreaza; along with Jorge Rodriguez, who is also the interim president’s brother.
On Monday, the United States expressed its “satisfaction” with the launch of the dialogue, stating that it “contributes significantly to the three-phase plan” established by Washington following the capture of then-President Nicolás Maduro in Caracas last January, with the goal of achieving “a transition to democratic elections.”
Maria Corina Machado and fellow opposition leader Edmundo Gonzalez, who in May proposed a “serious” negotiation with the government under US facilitation to “restore democracy,” recently said they would “not stand in the way of any initiative that produces real progress.”
They also made clear that they would evaluate the process “based on concrete and verifiable achievements,” including “the restoration of democratic institutions, the release of all political prisoners, genuine guarantees for all political actors without exclusion,” and “a timely presidential election timetable.”
Several civil society organizations have called for a protest this Thursday to demand that the negotiating table “advance a genuine transition to democracy.”
Read more news at Havana Times.
