Pedro will organize a forum with Venezuelan opposition to block talks with Maduro

These days after meeting with Nicolás Maduro in Caracas, Gustavo Pedro likes to wink at the Venezuelan opposition. The president will organize a forum in Bogotá where he will bring together opponents of the Chavista government, according to government sources. In the Venezuelan political crisis, the president has assumed the role of mediator, playing on three sides with Maduro, the anti-Chavista and Washington. The international community has been pressing for free and fair presidential elections next year as a result of a deal on the table in Mexico, but negotiations have now stalled.

The Venezuelan opposition has not had its best moments. Aimless, confronting, she has seen how Maduro returned to the international scene after two years of isolation. Most opposition parties agreed to remove Juan Guaido’s interim presidency, undermining a strategy backed by the United States and numerous Latin American and European countries to force Maduro’s fall. It never happened, reality: Chavez’s successor is president of Venezuela.

Faced with this bleak panorama, opponents have called for primaries in October to choose a separate candidate to face Maduro in the 2024 election. Joe Biden’s administration moved closer to Chavismo after the Russian invasion of Ukraine began in search of energy alternatives. To Moscow Gas. Out of that surprising and unexpected reconciliation came an agreement that would allow oil giant Chevron to bypass international sanctions and operate in Venezuela. In response, Washington asked Maduro to return to the table in Mexico for talks with the opposition and to give clear signs that he wants to normalize Venezuelan political life.

It was like it all started in November last year. The head of Venezuela’s legislature, Maduro’s right-hand man, Jorge Rodriguez, has agreed with the opposition to unlock Venezuelan assets abroad, worth billions of dollars. That money was an important injection for Chavismo. The parties shook hands and promised to meet soon. A humanitarian agreement to help the millions of Venezuelans who have fled the country is being developed in parallel. Chavismo, however, is not sitting down to talk again, as the White House promises not to keep its word and not release the money languishing in institutions such as accounts at the Bank of England and the Bank of Venezuela in New York. .

It was as if the rope would be cut. Rodriguez hardened his tone two weeks ago by denouncing talk of lifting U.S. sanctions — more than 700 sanctions weighing on the Caracas country that it blames for its economic woes. Washington is not going to do that under any circumstances because it thinks that Chavismo is stagnant and has no intention of opening its hand. “The chauvinists always give some excuse for non-compliance, it’s the same old story,” says a US government source.

With these strong positions, the biggest loser is the opposition. That’s where Pedro comes in. Although Norway is the mediating country, the initiative has been taken by Mexico’s president in recent months. Pedro’s idea was to open a space for dialogue with the opposition in Bogotá. Guaidó and other opposition leaders have sharply criticized the Colombian president for restoring ties with Maduro, who they see as an authoritarian president. This would be an opportunity to agree on a common message to overcome these conflicts and return Chavismo to Mexico. Pedro is convinced that his success in foreign policy rests on the establishment of liberal democracy in Venezuela, as in other countries.

Subscribe here Subscribe to EL PAÍS newsletter in Colombia and get all the important information about the country’s current affairs.