Eduardo González
Foreign Minister José Manuel Albares met yesterday in Bucharest with U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken, with whom he discussed the Russian invasion in Ukraine and the resumption of negotiations between the government of Nicolás Maduro and the Venezuelan opposition.
“Excellent meeting with my friend, Secretary of State Blinken, at NATO,” the minister declared through his official Twitter account. “We discussed Spain-US relations and EU-US relations ahead of our Presidency in 2023,” he continued. “We also addressed the Russian aggression in Ukraine and the Venezuela negotiations,” he added. “The US is an indispensable partner and ally for Spain,” he concluded.
Diplomatic sources told The Diplomat that the two officials addressed the “prospects” opening up for dialogue in Venezuela, following the recent resumption of the negotiation process in Mexico, and that Albares and Blinken agreed on the “need for a real and fruitful dialogue”. They also discussed the “importance of stabilizing Haiti” and the possibility of “exploring joint activities during the Spanish Presidency of the EU”. The meeting took place in Bucharest, in the margins of the NATO Foreign Ministers’ meeting.
Albares has been defending at all times the need for a dialogue-based solution to the political crisis in Venezuela leading to the holding of free and democratic elections. On November 23, the Government of Spain welcomed the resumption of the negotiation process in Mexico, which had been stalled for more than a year, and assured that “Spain will continue to work to strengthen the dialogue in this new stage, placing its capacity for dialogue at the service of the parties and contributing to create the necessary conditions for the negotiations to be successful”.
Four days later, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs celebrated the signing of the Second Partial Agreement for the Protection of the Venezuelan People by the negotiators in Mexico, which will allow “improving the welfare of thousands of Venezuelans”, and encouraged the negotiators to continue along this path and to include in their talks “fundamental political issues for coexistence”.
For his part, Antony Blinken, the EU High Representative for Foreign and Security Policy, Josep Borrell; the Canadian Minister of Foreign Affairs, Mélanie Joly; and the UK Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, James Cleverly, signed a joint statement on November 26 in which they “welcomed” the resumption of the dialogue process and urged the parties “to commit in good faith to a comprehensive agreement leading to free and fair elections in 2024, the restoration of democratic institutions and an end to the humanitarian crisis in Venezuela.”
“We believe that participation in the negotiations must be inclusive, diverse and representative of the Venezuelan population to ensure that an agreement is durable and long-lasting,” they continued. “We continue to call for the unconditional release of all those unjustly detained for political reasons, the independence of the electoral process and judicial institutions, freedom of expression, including for members of the press, and respect for human rights,” they added.
