Delegates of Nicolás Maduro arrive in Mexico in search of agreements to unlock funds

The president’s delegates Nicolas Maduro for dialogue with the Venezuelan opposition, they expressed this Friday in Mexico their willingness to sign an agreement that would unlock funds to alleviate the impact of the long crisis in the oil country.

Upon his arrival in Mexico City, where negotiations will formally resume on Saturday after 15 months of interruption, the chief negotiator for the Venezuelan government Jorge Rodriguez He reiterated to the press that one of the objectives of this round is to “sign a broad social agreement with a sector of the Venezuelan opposition.”

He was referring to a pact that would release Venezuelan resources blocked abroad, according to the government, without specifying where these funds are or their amount.

The money would serve, among other things, to alleviate the collapse of basic services in a country where poverty strikes eight out of ten people, according to the National Survey of Living Conditions (Enco), an academic study published on November 10.

The political and economic crisis has forced some seven million Venezuelans to emigrate, according to the United Nations.

The delegation also arrives in Mexico to “fulfill its role of defending peace, the right we have (…) to live in peace,” added Rodríguez -president of the National Assembly legislature – together with the negotiating team.

Maduro mainly demands at the table the lifting of US sanctions, which include an oil embargo and the blockade of assets.

The arrival of the representatives of the Unitary Platform, which aspires to specify solutions for the “humanitarian crisis, respect for human rights (…) and especially” guarantees for “free and observable elections”, has not yet been reported.

However, a source linked to the process told AFP that there is still no consensus on the next elections, which in theory should be held in 2024, and their conditions.

The opposition accuses Maduro of being fraudulently re-elected in 2018.

Based on that complaint and invoking his status as leader of Parliament, the opposition leader proclaimed himself president of Venezuela in 2019 with the support of fifty countries, led by the United States.

But since then his leadership has eroded, as well as his convening power, which added to changes at the international level and rapprochement of the Maduro government with the United States ended up oxygenating the heir to President Hugo Chávez, who died in 2013.

The ruling party and the opposition entered into dialogues in Mexico in August 2021 after failed initiatives in 2018 in the Dominican Republic and 2019 in Barbados. Maduro froze them two months later for the extradition to the United States of businessman Alex Saab, prosecuted for money laundering.

The government included Camila Fabri, Saab’s wife, in its negotiating team, whose incorporation into the table is required by the president.