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.<\/p>\n
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.”<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
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.”<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
The bloc said it was “ready” to “immediately resume a serious negotiation process.”<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
These prevent Venezuela from trading its crude oil — which represented 96 percent of the country’s income at the time — on the US market.<\/p>\n
Before Washington enacted sanctions against Venezuela, the South American country exported almost all of its oil production to the United States.<\/p>\n
Since then, Maduro has received support from Russia to continue exporting oil despite the sanctions.<\/p>\n
Washington sent a high-level delegation to Caracas in March, just days after Russia invaded Ukraine.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
Caracas also released two Americans detained in Venezuela in what was widely seen as a goodwill gesture.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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 […]<\/p>\n
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