Jorge Rodríguez, president of the National Assembly elected in 2020, reported this Tuesday that the government intends to start an “intensive round” of negotiations with all sectors of the country. He referred to a “reformatting of dialogue” ordered by Nicolás Maduro, alluding to the fact that the talks include more factors and not only those linked to the Democratic Unity Roundtable, now called the Unitary Platform.
“We have received the commission from President Maduro to give an intensive round of consultations and meetings with all the opposition factors,” he said.
“For the reformatting of the dialogue there must be an inclusive dialogue, that we are all represented,” he added in Press conference in the National Assembly.
He assured that the Venezuelan political map has changed, especially following the regional and local elections.
Alex Saab
Jorge Rodríguez indicated that he will request a meeting with Gerardo Blyde, who leads the opposition delegation at the negotiating table in Mexico.
However, he stressed that the Chavista delegation maintains Alex Saab as a full member.
“We have said in all diplomatic meetings and encounters that we absolutely maintain that Alex Saab is a full member of the Venezuelan dialogue delegation. Conditions have changed and we are at peace,” he said.
United States pressure
The announcement comes days following talks between a high-ranking delegation of US officials with Nicolás Maduro and part of his cabinet in Caracas.
Although the parties have not made public whether they reached a specific agreement, following the meeting two Americans who were imprisoned in Venezuela were released.
At first, it was speculated that the US delegation was interested in finding an oil supplier in Venezuela in the face of sanctions on Russian crude.
However, the White House expressly ruled out that he intends to import Venezuelan hydrocarbons and pointed out that the objective of the visit to Caracas is to lead the Maduro government to re-establish negotiations with the opposition in Mexico.
#EnVideo????| President of the National Assembly, @jorgerpsuvreported on the proposals of the convening of the country’s Military High Command, as well as “the need to reformat the political dialogue in Venezuela.”#LoyalToTheRevolution pic.twitter.com/TYut7qUI1n
— VTV CHANNEL 8 (@VTVcanal8) March 15, 2022
#15Mar #Venezuela
Jorge Rodríguez: “We have received the commission from President Maduro to give an intensive round of consultations and meetings with all the opposition factors.” pic.twitter.com/zSVnEjqMPh— THE SOURCE ???????? (@LA__SOURCE) March 15, 2022