A dialogue is underway in Venezuela

There is now “hope for all of Latin America,” said Mexico’s Foreign Minister Marcelo Ebrard after representatives of the Venezuelan government and opposition signed a comprehensive partial agreement. They ended a 15-month stalemate in negotiations. At the conference venue in Mexico City, the Norwegian mediator Dag Nylander also spoke of a milestone and explained that the crisis in the oil-rich country could only be solved by the Venezuelans themselves.

The socialist government of Nicolás Maduro and the opposition led by Juan Guaidó have applied to the United Nations to release frozen state assets. About three billion dollars are to flow gradually into a social fund to finance urgent social spending. According to the US Treasury Department, the partial agreement is “a humanitarian agreement focused on education, health, food safety, flood control and electricity.”

Chevron is allowed to produce oil again

In return, the government of US President Joe Biden allows the US company Chevron to produce Venezuelan oil again and import it into the US. In view of the extensive international sanctions against the Maduro regime, this has not been possible until now. However, the US government reserves the right to withdraw the easing at any time if the socialist head of state does not keep to his promises. Before the talks in Mexico, Maduro had said it was about retrieving “kidnapped” money. Then you can talk about other issues.

In Venezuela, ruled authoritarian by Maduro, there has been a serious political and economic crisis for years, which has long since grown into a humanitarian crisis. According to United Nations estimates, more than seven million Venezuelans left their country this year to escape high inflation, food shortages and other supply crises. Three quarters of the people who remain in the country live on less than $1.90 a day, which by international standards represents extreme poverty.

rb/ack (AFP, AP, dpa, Reuters)