Venezuelan Minister for Foreigns Affairs Felix Plasencia during his working tour at Russia. Photo: Sputnik / Alexey Kudenko.
MOSCOW (Sputnik) – Venezuela is happy with the process of negotiations with the opposition that are taking place in Mexico, known as the Mexico Talks, and hopes to resume them soon, declared Foreign Affairs Minister Félix Plasencia.
Upon meeting his Russian counterpart, Sergei Lavrov, in Moscow, the Venezuelan Foreign Minister stated that “the dialogue between the legitimate government of Venezuela headed by Nicolás Maduro and the opposition [is] underway very well, thanks to the facilitation of the Mexico’s President Andres Manuel López Obrador.”
“We have already had three meetings and… a fourth meeting is pending, which we hope will be held soon, but unfortunately it was affected by the arbitrary decision of the United States to kidnap a member of our delegation, Ambassador Alex Saab,” Plasencia said.
Plasencia acknowledged the efforts of Russia, acting as one of the countries supporting the negotiations in Mexico.
The foreign minister admitted that Saab’s extradition to the US “affects the regular dynamics of the dialogue process,” but that it is “not over.”
“Dialogue exists permanently,” he said.
The negotiation process began in August and has been hosted by Mexico with the mediation of Norway.
The third round of negotiations (the first meeting was only to sign the memorandum of understanding), was to be held in October. However, shortly before the agreed upon date, the head of Venezuela’s government delegation, Jorge Rodríguez, announced that it would suspend its participation in the dialogue following the illegal extraction to the United States of Ambassador Alex Saab. Saab was transported to the US from Cape Verde, where he had been illegally detained for 491 days following unsubstantiated accusations by Washington of money laundering.
Two weeks earlier, the official Venezuelan mission had designated Saab as a member of its Mexico Talks team, as a measure to pressure for his release, which was described as a kidnapping or an abduction, not only by Venezuelan authorities but also by international legal experts.
Featured image: Venezuelan Minister for Foreign Affairs Félix Plasencia during his working tour in Russia. Photo: Sputnik/Alexey Kudenko.
(Mundo Sputnik) with Orinoco Tribune content
Translation: Orinoco Tribune
OT/JRE/SL
