By Luis Jaime Acosta
BOGOTA (Reuters) – Representatives from 19 countries and the European Union are meeting in Bogota on Tuesday to try to reinvigorate talks between the Venezuelan government of Nicolas Maduro and opposition political parties.
The meeting, hosted by Colombian President Gustavo Petro with support from the United States, includes Spain, the United Kingdom, Argentina, Brazil and others.
The meeting is meant to help Maduro and the opposition restart stalled talks in Mexico focused on free elections and the possible lifting of sanctions against the government.
Petro met over the weekend with representatives from the Unitary Platform alliance, which represents some of Venezuela’s opposition. Neither the opposition nor the government will participate directly in the Bogota conference.
“We need to be on two tracks at once, establishing a schedule for the elections and their guarantees … and also the lifting of sanctions,” Petro said during opening remarks.
The Mexico talks, held briefly last year and in 2021, are supposed to provide a roadmap out of the long-running crisis.”If we can come out with a clear path that supports free and fair elections and reaffirms the international community’s resolve to help address the humanitarian situation in Venezuela, then we’ll be moving in a positive direction,” a senior Biden administration official said.
The opposition contends that ruling party control of the electoral authority impedes transparent elections and has also called for the release of political prisoners.
The government and the opposition last year signed a deal to create a U.N.-administrated humanitarian fund with frozen assets held in the international financial system.
But slow establishment of the fund and other delays caused by a change in opposition leadership have created impatience towards U.S. bureaucracy among the opposition and Maduro.
There will be no return to negotiations in Mexico if funds are not deposited, Maduro said via state television on Monday.
Former opposition leader Juan Guaido, who arrived unannounced in Bogota on Monday, flew to Miami overnight after Colombia opened a process against him for irregular migration.
Leftist Petro, who took office nearly nine months ago, normalized relations with Venezuela and has repeatedly called for a restart in talks and lifting of sanctions.
(Reporting by Luis Jaime Acosta in Bogota, additional reporting by Matt Spetalnick in Washington and Vivian Sequera in Caracas; Writing by Julia Symmes Cobb; editing by Grant McCool)
