The last round of talks saw Qatar successfully mediating the exchange of 11 prisoners between the U.S. and Venezuela last December.
Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro has accepted a proposal to resume direct talks with the United States, as Caracas seeks the lifting of Washington’s crippling sanctions on the country.
Maduro announced the latest development on Monday during an interview with Venezuela’s state television, and described the talks as “urgent”. The president said he had “received the proposal during two continuous months” from Washington to resume talks facilitated by Qatar.
“After thinking about it for two months, I have accepted, and next Wednesday [July 10], talks will restart with the United States government to comply with the agreements signed in Qatar and to reestablish the terms of the urgent dialogue,” Maduro said.
Maduro added that Venezuela’s National Assembly President Jorge Rodriguez as well as Miranda state Governor Hector Rodriguez, will represent his country at the talks.
Maduro did not provide further details. However, the talks come months after Qatar mediated the exchange of 11 prisoners between the U.S. and Venezuela on December 21, the the largest release in Venezuela’s history.
The exchange involved 10 American prisoners for one Venezuelan prisoner, Alex Saab, a close ally of President Maduro.
Reports had emerged last year prior to the deal over Qatar’s major mediation role between the U.S. and Venezuela.
Spain’s El Pais first broke the news about a meeting in Qatar that took place between the president of the Venezuelan National Assembly and Juan Gonzalez, an adviser to President Joe Biden.
The sources claimed that both Rodriguez and Gonzalez had met “to establish a direct channel of communication” between the adversaries.
Then, last October, The Miami Herald reported that subsequent meetings had occurred between the U.S. and Venezuelan sides. According to the report, quiet negotiations took place in Doha between Washington and Caracas resulting in a “tentative agreement” for free and fair elections in Venezuela.
Further talks ensued in Mexico in April, during which the Venezuelan government said the Biden administration had failed to lift some of the sanctions. In response, the U.S. reinstated the sanctions, citing Maduro’s alleged failure to uphold the electoral agreement.
“Based on what was agreed in Doha, we point out the failure of the American administration to comply with the agreed schedule for lifting sanctions,” Rodriguez said in a statement on April 13.
Maduro is seeking a third term in office at the upcoming July 28 elections. He is running against former diplomat Edmundo Gonzalez, who is currently leading the polls by 20 percentage points, according to Bloomberg.
Tensions between the U.S. and Venezuela soared under the former Donald Trump administration, which imposed sweeping sanctions on the South American country in a bid to exert maximum pressure on President Maduro.
In 2019, Maduro severed diplomatic ties with the U.S. after it recognised opposition leader Juan Guaido as the interim president amid rising tensions between the two countries.
Trump’s perceived attempt to overthrow Maduro was widely seen by analysts as another U.S. attempt to meddle in the affairs of Venezuela and the wider Latin American region.
