The Diplomat
The Minister of Foreign Affairs, José Manuel Albares, met yesterday in Paris with the chief negotiators of the government and opposition in Venezuela hours before they were due to hold a meeting sponsored by the French President, Emmanuel Macron, to try to revive the dialogue process in Mexico, which has been stalled for more than a year.
According to a communiqué from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Albares took advantage of his stay at the Paris Peace Forum to meet, at the Spanish Embassy, first separately, and then with both at the same time, with Jorge Rodríguez, president of the pro-Chávez National Assembly and chief negotiator for Nicolás Maduro’s regime, and with Gerardo Blyde, chief negotiator for the Unitary Platform, which brings together the four main opposition parties.
Diplomatic sources explained to Europa Press that these meetings are the result of talks held in recent weeks with both parties and the aim is to make clear the Spanish government’s support for “the resumption of negotiations”.
Albares explained to his interlocutors, according to the note from his Department, that “the Spanish Government supports the resumption of negotiations and expresses its full willingness to accompany the process”.
The aforementioned sources assured that the minister has at all times defended the need for a dialogue-based solution to the political crisis that Venezuela is going through, leading to free and democratic elections. In this regard, he has had contacts in the past with opposition leaders, as well as with his Venezuelan counterparts. In September, he had the opportunity to meet with the Venezuelan foreign minister, Carlos Faría, in New York.
The Spanish government has not recognised the elections in which Maduro was re-elected in 2018 and initially recognised Juan Guaidó, president of the National Assembly elected in 2015, as president in charge of Venezuela after he proclaimed himself as such in January 2020. However, in recent times this recognition has remained a dead letter, with Guaidó relegated to the role of interlocutor within the opposition.
The meetings held yesterday by Albares took place shortly before the Venezuelan negotiators shook hands in Paris after months of estrangement, after last Monday, during the COP27 in Egypt Macron exchanged words with Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro, who expressed his desire for France to play “a decisive role”.
Yesterday, Macron stated that “negotiations between the opposition and the regime must resume as soon as possible in Mexico, first with a humanitarian agreement and then, hopefully, with political guarantees at the next meetings”.
The president of Colombia, Gustavo Petro, who was involved in the contacts held yesterday, said that there is a “greater rapprochement” between the Venezuelan government and the opposition after the Peace Forum in Paris.
Petro added that there is “undoubtedly” progress and development at the negotiating tables, although he ruled out a date for resuming the dialogue in Mexico. “We are not talking about concrete dates here,” he said, noting that an agreement has not been signed either.
