Unitary Platform members speak at a panel. Photo: Gobierno de México.
According to a joint announcement released this Monday by the Norwegian Embassy in Mexico, the government of Venezuela and the Unitary Platform announced that they are resuming their dialogue and negotiation process. Meetings will begin this Tuesday in Bridgetown, Barbados.
“The government of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela and the Unitary Platform of Venezuela have decided to resume the process of dialogue and negotiation, facilitated by Norway, with the objective of reaching a political agreement, in accordance with the provisions of the Memorandum of Understanding signed in Mexico City on August 13, 2021,” posted the Norwegian embassy in Mexico on its official social media accounts.
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The president of the Venezuelan parliament, Jorge Rodríguez, shared the message posted by the Norwegian Embassy.
El anuncio conjunto de las partes del proceso de diálogo y negociación de #Venezuela pic.twitter.com/rtCRivFrnp
— Noruega en MX y CA (@NoruegaMexCA) October 16, 2023
An unfulfilled agreement
The last meeting between a sector of the opposition and Venezuela’s delegation, as part of the process facilitated by Norway and Mexico, took place in November of last year and culminated in the signing of the Second Partial Agreement for the Protection of Venezuelan people in Mexico City.
This agreement established the conditions for the execution of protection measures for the Venezuelan people as well as the Constitution and mandate of the institutions created through the Partial Agreement of September 2021. These include the National Social Care Table and the Special Group for Care of the Effects of Overcompliance.
In addition, the agreement contemplates requesting UN aid to support the design, establishment, and implementation of a single trust fund that will aim to expand the implementation of social protection measures for the Venezuelan people.
However, the aspects specified in this Second Partial Agreement—to address social needs by restoring to the legitimate government of President Maduro the significant Venezuelan assets that remain blocked or withheld—have not been fulfilled to date.
On repeated occasions, both President Nicolás Maduro and the plenipotentiary representative of the Peace Dialogue process and head of the delegation from the Government of Venezuela, Jorge Rodríguez, have urged the opposition sector that participates in the dialogue process to comply with the agreements signed in Mexico. However, these calls have fallen on deaf ears.
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A dialogue process going on for more than two years
The dialogue process between delegates of the government of Venezuela and part of the opposition, with the mediation of Norway and Mexico, formally began on August 13, 2021. The “memorandum of understanding” was signed by Jorge Rodríguez on behalf of the government of Nicolás Maduro, and by Gerardo Blyde on behalf of the so-called Unitary Platform.
In the signed document, both delegations showed their willingness to “agree on the necessary conditions for the electoral processes enshrined in the Constitution to be carried out with all the guarantees and understanding the need for international sanctions to be lifted.”
Translation: Orinoco Tribune
OT/KW/SL
