Caracas, June 29 (AFP/APP): The main bloc of Venezuelan opposition parties said Tuesday that their representatives had met with a visiting US delegation and that they were ready to restart negotiations with President Nicolas Maduro’s government.
On Monday, Maduro announced the US delegation had arrived in the country to discuss a “bilateral agenda,” expanding on talks in March the White House had said were focused on American “energy security.”
The United States and Venezuela severed diplomatic ties in 2019 after Maduro was re-elected the year before to a second term in a ballot boycotted by the opposition.
Maduro said Monday that the US delegation was being hosted by National Assembly speaker Jorge Rodriguez — also the government lead in negotiations with the opposition, which have been at a standstill since last October.
Earlier on Tuesday, Omar Barboza, coordinator of the largest opposition bloc, told reporters “we have not been summoned (to the talks), we do not know the agenda.”
But later in the evening, the bloc released a statement saying it had met with the US delegation “to coordinate efforts for the sake of reestablishing the negotiation process” with the Maduro government.
The bloc said it was “ready” to “immediately resume a serious negotiation process.”
In a bid to oust Maduro from power after his disputed re-election, Washington and dozens of other countries recognized opposition leader Juan Guaido as interim president and imposed a battery of sanctions on Caracas.
These prevent Venezuela from trading its crude oil — which represented 96 percent of the country’s income at the time — on the US market.
Before Washington enacted sanctions against Venezuela, the South American country exported almost all of its oil production to the United States.
Since then, Maduro has received support from Russia to continue exporting oil despite the sanctions.
Washington sent a high-level delegation to Caracas in March, just days after Russia invaded Ukraine.
Observers said the move sought to distance Caracas from ally Moscow, and to discuss an easing of US sanctions on Venezuelan oil after Russia’s invasion caused a spike in global fuel prices.
After the talks, Washington announced it would ease some sanctions against Venezuela, including one linked to the oil company Chevron, to promote dialogue between Maduro’s government and the opposition.
Caracas also released two Americans detained in Venezuela in what was widely seen as a goodwill gesture.
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