The government of Nicolas Maduro is preparing to hold talks with the country’s self-proclaimed “government” led by Juan Guaido. The talks will reportedly take place Friday in Mexico City, the Mexican capital.
The current talks will be the first attempt by Venezuela’s official opposition authorities for the parties to agree in two years: the last round of direct talks between Juan Guaido and Nicolas Maduro took place in July 2019. Since then, Venezuela’s political and economic situation has changed dramatically. While Maduro has managed to consolidate his power and Guaido’s position on the international stage has been severely shaken, Venezuela’s economic situation has continued to deteriorate. International sanctions imposed on the country, the seizure of assets held in foreign banks, including the country’s gold reserve held in the Bank of England, contributed greatly to this. The situation was exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic and the drop in world oil prices.
It is assumed that during the dialogue the government of Nicolas Maduro will try to obtain the lifting of sanctions in exchange for the admission of opposition leaders to participate in the elections scheduled for November. Earlier, the authorities, with EU mediation, guaranteed the participation of the opposition in the upcoming elections, in which the country will elect provincial governors and mayors.
It is expected that the current negotiations, which will be mediated by the Norwegian government, will allow the parties to reach the long-awaited agreement. At the same time, analysts believe that Maduro will not make serious concessions other than those already agreed upon with EU representatives.
