Government of Venezuela accuses the US of breaking its word in direct negotiations

The Venezuelan government accused the United States on Wednesday of failing to comply with the agreements signed in direct negotiations carried out since last year with the facilitation of Qatar.

Jorge Rodríguez, president of the pro-government majority Parliament and head of the government's negotiating delegation, said on Wednesday that at the end of last year two memoranda of understanding were signed with representatives of President Joe Biden's Administration: one on immigration matters and another on political and diplomatic aspects, aimed at normalizing relations between both countries.

Rodríguez, who showed photographs in which he is seen with Brian Nichols, Undersecretary of State for Western Hemisphere Affairs, as well as documents allegedly signed by the parties, said that Washington broke its word.

“Mr. Nichols, you just shot yourself in the foot twice,” he said.

Rodríguez also confirmed that repatriation flights for Venezuelans who do not have a legal basis to remain in the United States agreed last year, were suspended after the Biden administration threatened to reimpose sanctions earlier this year. “We will talk when they recover the word and the signature,” he said.

The representative of the Maduro government spoke shortly after the US announced your decision to revoke a license that authorized oil and gas transactions in Venezuela, and that was issued after the signing of the agreement on electoral guarantees in Barbados, which arose after the negotiations between Caracas and Washington.

Regarding the Barbados agreements, Rodríguez reiterated that they never committed to accepting the name of an opposition candidate.

The US recognized on Wednesday that the Maduro government complied with “certain aspects” of the agreements signed in Barbados, including the establishment of an electoral calendar and the invitation to electoral observation missions, but regretted that candidates have been blocked of opposition.

The Unitary Platform and the winner with 90% of the votes of the opposition presidential primary, María Corina Machado, have denounced that the government has not fulfilled the agreements, including the respect of each political actor to choose their candidate.

The coalition of opposition parties and Machado, disqualified from holding public officereported that the government prevented them from registering Corina Yoris, an 80-year-old philosopher designated as their successor candidate.

Direct negotiations between Washington and Caracas led to the Alex Saab swapa Maduro collaborator who was being prosecuted for money laundering in the US, by 10 US citizens imprisoned in Venezuela and a fugitive.

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