On Monday 29 January 2018, the talks were resumed between the Venezuelan government and representatives of the Venezuelan opposition in Santo Domingo. They are continuing on Tuesday, 30 January, with the firm support of President Danilo Medina.
The fifth round of negotiations took place in the morning at the Ministry of Foreign Relations (Mirex). In attendance were Foreign Minister Miguel Vargas, and the former President of Spain, Luis Rodríguez Zapatero. The Mexican foreign ministry earlier had announced it would no longer participate in the mediation process. The Venezuelan opposition is represented by Julio Borges, Alejandro Hernandez, Simon Calzadilla, Luis Carlos Padilla, Enrique Marquez, Manuel Rosles and Luis Moreno that arrived on Sunday for the talks.
Despite the backing out of the Mexican foreign ministry from the mediation process, President Medina has announced he would continue to back Maduro government talks in Santo Domingo for a deal with the opposition. President Medina had announced via Twitter during his participation in Davos, Switzerland at the World Economic Forum that the talks would resume at the Ministry of Foreign Relations in Santo Domingo on 28 and 29 January 2018. Medina said the talks “are the best hope for a solution for Venezuela and its people.” The Presidency wrote: “Amidst greater difficulties, the talks are even more urgent.”
The Dominican Presidency called for more voices of the international community to join the talks. “We need all to be convinced of the importance of stopping, rather than stoking, an escalation of violence that, if it occurs, will inevitably split Venezuela and probably all of Latin America in two,” the Dominican president said, according to the statement. Medina reaffirmed the neutrality of the Dominican Republic in the negotiations.
The meetings scheduled for 18 January 2018, were cancelled when the opposition leaders chose to not attend. Sources in Venezuela had said the participation of the opposition is unlikely after the government of Maduro unilaterally convened elections for April 2018. Venezuelan opposition leaders have pressed for the appointing of a credible new National Electoral Council to organize the next election, humanitarian channel for distribution of medicine and food aid, the release of political prisoners in Venezuela and restoring of constitutional powers the parliament was stripped of by government. The Venezuelan government demands lifting of economic sanctions on some of its officers and recognition of the Constitutional Assembly that is made up by government partisans and not recognized by many foreign governments.
During the Dominican talks, the opposition’s overriding demand was that the regime allow a credible international monitoring mission to watch over every aspect of the election — including the campaign, the voting, the tallying and the vote-count audit. Opposition voices suspect that instead, the Venezuelan government will likely fall back on the old ruse of allowing a purely cosmetic “accompaniment” mission run by diplomats from countries allied to the regime and sock-puppet nongovernmental organizations so that the government’s propaganda arm can later claim the win was internationally monitored.
Read more in Spanish:
7 Dias
Washington Post
Hoy
El Dia
El Universal (Venezuela)
Diario Libre
30 January 2018
