President Danilo Medina, former Spanish President Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero, Dominican Foreign Minister Miguel Vargas Maldonado and his colleagues, the foreign ministers from Chile, Nicaragua, Bolivia and Mexico will be serving as mediators between representatives of the Venezuelan government and the political opposition.
The Venezuelan government has released 44 political prisoners ahead of the talks. An estimated 150 political prisoners remain behind bars.
This is the third series of talks to be held in Santo Domingo. Past meetings were held in November and December 2017. The talks are taking place at the Ministry of Foreign Relations. Observers are hopeful a deal might be struck now that Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro’s cash-strapped administration needs support to refinance Venezuela’s rising foreign debt.
Venezuelans are scheduled to vote for a new president in 2018, but a date has not been set amidst the political and economic crisis affecting the country.
11 January 2018
