US-Backed Venezuela Transition Talks Open Without Opposition Leader María Corina Machado
The Facts
- Formal talks between Venezuela's interim government and a US-backed section of the opposition were scheduled to begin on Saturday, August 1, in Caracas.
- The government delegation is led by Jorge Rodríguez, president of the National Assembly and brother of acting President Delcy Rodríguez; the opposition delegation is led by Dinorah Figuera.
- María Corina Machado, winner of the Nobel Peace Prize, is not taking part in the negotiations, and neither is Edmundo González Urrutia; both have said they will not obstruct the process if it produces real progress.
- Figuera returned to Venezuela on June 18 after eight years of exile in Spain, at the invitation of the US State Department, as the last president of the opposition-majority National Assembly elected in 2015, which Washington still recognizes.
- The stated agenda includes rebuilding democratic institutions, overhauling the National Electoral Council and the top court, and guaranteeing political participation ahead of eventual elections.
- The talks follow the January 3 US military operation that removed Nicolás Maduro, after which Delcy Rodríguez, his former vice president, took office as acting president with Washington's backing.
- Demonstrations took place in Caracas ahead of the negotiations, with opposition supporters demanding elections and sectors of chavismo voicing opposition to the talks.
- No timetable or date for elections has been announced, and previous rounds of negotiation between the government and the opposition have repeatedly failed.
Context
Why is María Corina Machado not at the negotiating table?
Machado, the country's most popular opposition figure and a Nobel Peace Prize winner, was not invited to the negotiations Al Jazeera Online,ThePrint. Reporting describes her exclusion as a decision tied to Washington's selection of participants Todo Noticias, and she and Edmundo González Urrutia issued a joint statement saying they would not take part but would not stand in the way of real, verifiable progress EL PAÍS,theepochtimes.com,El Heraldo …. Her absence has left her base skeptical of the process Yahoo News.
Who is Dinorah Figuera and why is she leading the opposition side?
Figuera is a Venezuelan opposition politician who spent eight years in exile in Spain, where she served as the last president of the National Assembly elected in 2015 infobae,infobae. Three sources told Reuters the US asked her to lead because she heads the opposition-dominated 2015 legislative cohort that Washington still recognizes as Venezuela's last democratically elected legislature ThePrint. She has said the aim is a new electoral authority and a path to democratic elections La Razón. The party Primero Justicia, part of the main opposition coalition, said it would be represented in the delegation infobae.
What is the structure of the talks and what does each side want?
The process formally pairs a delegation from the chavista-controlled current parliament with one representing the 2015 legislature, in what has been described as a parity political and technical table infobae,infobae,El Español. US Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced Washington's active participation in mid-July, within a plan of stabilization, recovery and transition El Español,RTVE.es. According to Reuters, the interim government is seeking the lifting of remaining US sanctions, while the opposition delegation is pursuing electoral reform and fair elections Economic Times; Primero Justicia has said it also expects the release of all political prisoners infobae.
Where Left and Right agree, and where they split
- Where Left and Right agree
- Talks without an election date, without Machado in the room, and with the acting president's brother leading the government side fall short of what a real transition requires.
- Where Left and Right split
- A transition authored in Washington rather than by Venezuelan voters, or whether US leverage gets converted into a rebuilt court, electoral council, and election date.
How left and right read it
Delegations led by Jorge Rodríguez and Dinorah Figuera sat down in Caracas to discuss rebuilding courts, the electoral council, and political participation. But the sitting president took office with Washington's backing after a US military operation removed Maduro, and Figuera returned from exile at the State Department's invitation. No election date exists. Legitimacy comes from Venezuelans voting, not from an outside power arranging the table — set the date.
The Washington Examiner argues the United States finally has real bargaining power over the regime, the first time since Chavismo took power. It is worth something only if it buys substance: a rebuilt electoral council and high court, guaranteed political participation, an election date. Talks delivering none of that, with the acting president's brother heading the delegation and the Nobel laureate outside the room, would waste it.
“First, the United States holds real leverage over the regime for the first time since Chavismo took power.” — Washington Examiner
The receipts — 113 sources
Wire services (4)
Independent coverage (109)
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