U.S.-backed negotiations between Venezuela’s interim government and a section of the opposition will begin on Aug. 1 without the country’s main opposition leader, Maria Corina Machado.
The United States’ presence at the talks exemplifies America’s unprecedented influence over Venezuelan politics since the Trump administration removed former leader Nicolás Maduro in a January raid and installed acting President Delcy Rodriguez.
Rodriguez’s brother, Jorge, the head of the National Assembly and a longtime negotiator at previous talks with the United States and the opposition, will lead the government delegation. Dinorah Figuera will lead the opposition delegation.
Trump earlier in July, while talking to reporters, denied media reports that his administration told Machado not to return.
Machado said last week that while she would not participate in the talks, she would not stand in the way of “real progress” at the negotiations and would determine their success based on whether democratic institutions are restored, political prisoners are freed, and elections are scheduled, among other issues.
The interim government has said it will seek at the talks to have the remaining U.S. sanctions lifted. The United States has tentatively eased sanctions on Venezuela’s oil, gas, and gold sectors in the past due to agreements between the government and the opposition for fair elections.
Venezuela’s opposition and the Maduro government have repeatedly held talks over the years, even as the top courts and the electoral authority have consisted of Maduro’s allies.
A negotiated deal for the 2024 elections promised a fair contest and full opposition participation, but Machado was excluded from it. The United States and international electoral observers said her movement won some two-thirds of the votes cast, but electoral and judicial authorities declared Maduro the winner, keeping him in power.
For elections to occur, the United States said that Venezuela must first be stable and economically sound.
U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio, a longtime supporter of Machado, told journalists this month that Machado is welcome to play a role in the talks if Venezuelans support her presence there. He added that the United States is there to facilitate, not dictate, the talks.
“In order for Venezuela to have the reconciliation that that country requires to move forward on all these other projects, every element of Venezuelan society needs to be represented. And obviously, Maria Corina represents an important element of that,” Rubio said.
