Venezuela to Restart Direct Talks with US, Maduro Announces

Mexico City, Mexico, July 2, 2024 (venezuelanalysis.com) – Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro announced Monday that his government would reopen direct talks with the United States.

“I have accepted the proposal of the US government to resume direct talk and we will debate and seek new agreements so that what was signed in Qatar is fulfilled,” said Maduro during his weekly television program. 

The Venezuelan president’s mention of Qatar is an allusion to previously unacknowledged talks with US officials. 

Spanish newspaper El País first reported Qatar-mediated talks between the US and Venezuela in June of last year, with former White House advisor Juan González leading the US delegation. 

In October the US announced the temporary suspension of unilateral coercive measures after the signing of an agreement, known as the Barbados Accords, between the government and the US-backed opposition establishing certain conditions for the elections. The Biden administration later reintroduced wide-reaching economic coercive measures against Venezuela’s oil industry.

Qatari mediation reportedly played a role in the prisoner swap between the US and Venezuela, which saw the release of government envoy Alex Saab in exchange for several US nationals detained in Venezuela, including two former Green Berets who took part in an attempted paramilitary invasion.

Maduro stated that the US had failed to live up to the commitments it made with the help of Qatar, including the full removal of economic sanctions, and that the dialogue would be public moving forward. The president said that the US had been requesting direct talks for two months and that negotiations will be led by National Assembly President Jorge Rodríguez alongside Miranda state Governor Héctor Rodríguez.

US State Department Principal Deputy Spokesperson Vedant Patel said Tuesday Washington welcomes “dialogue and good faith” but did not explicitly confirm direct talks with Caracas instead that they would work with the “international community and democratic actors” in Venezuela. He repeated the US government’s call for the “full implementation” of the Barbados Accords.

The announcement that the Venezuelan government had accepted the US’ offer to restart negotiations, set to begin Wednesday, comes only a few weeks before presidential elections on July 28. 

“They know who is going to win. I am a man of dialogue and I want respect for Venezuela, its democracy, its people through dialogue,” said Maduro.

“I want to overcome this conflict of brutal and sterile confrontation with the north, it is up to them to comply,” he added.  Maduro said that Venezuela’s sovereignty and independence would be front and center.

Venezuelans cast mock ballots in a rehearsal vote on Sunday with 3,000 polling stations opened for voters. The dry-run allows for citizens to familiarize the voting process. The process additionally illustrates the mobilization capacity of competing political organizations. 

Maduro campaign chief Jorge Rodríguez expressed his satisfaction at the Socialist Party’s efficiency.

“What happened in the electoral simulation was a true demonstration of how things are done; We congratulate the capacity, deployment and participation of our very powerful machinery.” said Rodríguez on social media. With the campaign period set to officially begin on Thursday, the Socialist Party has announced a major march in Caracas and dozens of cities across the country.

In contrast, the major opposition alliance that is running candidate Edmundo González did not emphasize participation in the electoral dry-run. There were reports that opposition voters were confused about who was the candidate, some saying they wanted to vote for María Corina Machado, who does not appear on the ballot.

The election rehearsal also allowed international observers to tour voting centers and witness the country’s safeguards in action. 

The US-based Carter Center accepted an invitation by the country’s electoral authority to monitor the vote and announced that it would send a “technical election observation mission” to Venezuela. 

The Carter Center has observed numerous elections in the South American country, most recently in 2021. The institution said its assessment “will be based on the national legal framework as well as regional and international human rights obligations and standards for democratic elections.”

The CNE has extended invitations to a wide range of observation missions as well as more than 250 individuals, including the Caribbean Community (CARICOM), the African Union and an electoral expert team from the United Nations (UN). In May, the electoral authorities withdrew its invitation to the European Union (EU) after rejecting the bloc’s interference in the country’s affairs.

Edited by Ricardo Vaz in Caracas.