Venezuelan Government and Opposition Begin New Dialogue

The Venezuelan negotiating team also includes diplomat Alex Saab, who remains detained in Cape Verde pending his extradition to the United States.

From Sept. 24 to 27, the Venezuelan government and the opposition will carry out a third round of talks in Mexico City with the mediation of Norway.

The head of the Bolivarian government delegation, Jorge Rodriguez, announced that his country will again demand that the assets that Venezuela possesses abroad be returned immediately.

“We are in the presence of a flagrant theft of assets that only belong to Venezuelans,” he said, recalling that the return of those assets was one of the points agreed upon in the previous negotiation round.

Last week, Rodriguez announced that the Venezuelan negotiating team also includes diplomat Alex Saab, who remains detained in Cape Verde pending his extradition to the United States.

“They still keep him kidnapped in Cape Verde in an illegitimate, illegal, and inhumane way,” President Nicolas Maduro stressed on Thursday.

In the last two rounds of negotiations, the Venezuelan government and the opposition also agreed to defend Venezuela’s sovereignty over the Essequibo, to obtain financing for the acquisition of COVID-19 vaccines, and to implement social protection mechanisms for the Venezuelans.

The new dialogues take place amid a political campaign for the subnational elections on November 21, in which Venezuelans will elect governors and mayors. Unlike on previous occasions, the main opposition parties did not boycott the electoral process and decided to present their candidates as well.