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News > Latin America

New Venezuelan Gov't, Opposition Dialogue Dates 'Still To Come'

  • Delegates of President Nicolas Maduro's government and Venezuela's opposition coalition meet for a round of talks in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic January 12, 2018.

    Delegates of President Nicolas Maduro's government and Venezuela's opposition coalition meet for a round of talks in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic January 12, 2018. | Photo: Reuters

Published 18 January 2018
Opinion

Dominican Foreign Minister Miguel Vargas made the announcement Thursday following a meeting between the various foreign ministers charged with overseeing the talks.

New dates for the next round of dialogue between Venezuela's government and opposition will be announced in the next few days after the opposition failed to attend Thursday's talks as planned, Dominican Foreign Minister Miguel Vargas has confirmed.

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Vargas made his announcement late Thursday following a meeting between the various foreign ministers charged with overseeing the talks.

"Today we want to announce that we have talked with the parties, we have talked with the foreign ministers present and those of Mexico and Chile and we have agreed on the commitment to convene a new date in the coming days to continue the dialogue in the Dominican Republic in the interest of a peaceful, democratic and stable exit for Venezuela," Vargas said.

He indicated that the foreign ministers of Mexico and Chile weren't present, but the two main parties – along with the rest of the foreign ministers accompanying the process – had agreed to continue the talks soon.

Former Spanish president José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero said the meeting scheduled for Friday was not possible because the Venezuelan opposition could not attend. However, he said they remain committed to the process and will soon give a new date.

The Dominican Foreign Ministry's Communications Director Hugo Beras earlier said that the organizing committee would seek the "most convenient date within the shortest possible time to resume the dialogue."

"The process has taken time," he said. "In some places, it was expected that results would be given immediately, but the most important thing is that progress has been made at each stage."

Beras also reiterated that the Dominican Republic, which is hosting the negotiations, "has a commitment above all to the Venezuelan people and the region along with the other countries that are accompanying the process."

The talks were set to resume after the Venezuelan government successfully led an operation that resulted in the death of seven members of what was described as a "terrorist cell."

The group included Oscar Perez, a former police helicopter pilot who, after commandeering a helicopter, fired shots at the Interior Ministry where 80 people were working and launched grenades at the Supreme Court in June last year.

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Nestor Reverol, the Minister of People's Power for Interior Relations, Justice and Peace, said they were tipped off to the whereabouts of the group through discussions with the opposition. "Some political leaders gave us information on where to find the terrorist cell," he said.

The Democratic Unity Roundtable (MUD) coalition, the umbrella group that represents the opposition parties, rejected the comments, saying that Reverol "falsely claimed to have obtained information on... Oscar Perez at the last negotiation meeting."

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