Venezuela: Contact Group asks the Government and opposition to resume dialogue

The International Contact Group on Venezuela (GIC) urged this Saturday the Government of Nicholas Maduro Yet the opposition to “resume” the dialogue in Mexico, suspended since last October.

“The International Contact Group urges all parties to the comprehensive negotiations, led by the Venezuelans, to resume dialogue in Mexico and act in good faith for the benefit of the Venezuelan people,” the GIC said in a statement released today, after the high-level meeting that he held yesterday by videoconference.

The Venezuelan government and the opposition agreed to the negotiating table in Mexico in August 2021, but it has been suspended since October, after the extradition to the United States of Colombian businessman Álex Saab, alleged figurehead of Maduro.

“The only way out of the crisis that Venezuela is going through is political negotiation, led by the Venezuelans themselves, which leads to the organization of credible, inclusive and transparent elections at all levels, including the presidential level,” said the statement, signed by Germany, Chile, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Spain, France, Italy, the Netherlands, Panama, Portugal, the Dominican Republic, Sweden, the EU and Uruguay.

The Contact Group yesterday discussed the situation in Venezuela after the regional and municipal elections on November 21 and the attempts of the Venezuelan Movement for Recall to launch a referendum to recall Maduro.

He also addressed the recent report of the Electoral Observation Mission that the EU sent to the November elections, which trusts that “it can contribute to the search for a peaceful and democratic solution to the crisis in Venezuela and that its recommendations on possible reforms can help improve future electoral processes.”

In this sense, the countries of the Contact Group considered that “a comprehensive reform of the judicial system as an opportunity to reinforce equal conditions and impartiality in future elections.”

In addition, they demanded “full respect for the political rights and physical integrity of political and civil actors, including journalists” in Venezuela and asked the Venezuelan authorities to allow the GIC Humanitarian Assistance Working Group to enter the country. .