Maduro: Oslo Talks 'Move Forward for Peace in Venezuela'

Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro reasserts that the Norway-mediated dialogue with opposition are continuing and affirmed "verifiable agreements" will be reached.

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"The dialogue with the Norwegians is going on and will continue, and we will move forward on verifiable, achievable agreements for the peace of Venezuela," said the head of state Thursday night during a television broadcast from an event celebrating the National Day of Journalism, noting "new and positive" news will come Friday from Minister of Communication Jorge Rodriguez.

"Now, there are many things, just as I am saying dialogue, there must be justice, there has to be justice, justice is not going to stop anything or anyone," he said referring to the escape of the opposition leader Ivan Simonovis who fled to the United States in May.

The president the U.S. has welcomed Simonovis as a “hero” after he escaped his house arrest in Caracas last month where he was serving a sentence for the deaths that occurred during the failed coup d'état of 2002 against then president, Hugo Chavez.

"The murderer Simonovis is welcomed as a hero in Washington, but is a murderer, a criminal, bloody murderer," said Maduro during his address to the gathered journalists.

The president indicated that he will continue insisting on the path of dialogue to resolve the issues his country faces, but insisted that there must be justice for the “conspiratorial" plans against his government.

Venezuela, home to the world’s largest oil reserves, has been strangled by sanctions by the Trump administration, leading directly to the deaths of at least 40,000 people inside the country who can’t get proper access to food and medicine, according to a Center for Economic and Policy Research (CEPR) study from May.

Since late January, the U.S. government has supported the several attempted takeovers of the presidential palace by the lawmaker and self-declared interim president, Juan Guaido.

In late May when the Oslo talks began, Norwigian Minister of Foreign Affairs Ine Eriksen Søreide, said in a statement that both "parties have shown their willingness to move forward in the search for an agreed and constitutional solution for the country, which includes political, economic and electoral issues."

Minister Rodriguez will speak to reporters regarding the dialogues June 28.