Guaidó responds to Petro for a proposal on “political dialogue in Venezuela”

The Venezuelan deputy Juan Guaidó, one of the most recognized faces of the opposition in Venezuela, responded on Tuesday to a proposal launched by the president of Colombia, Gustavo Petro, through Twitter.

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“I will convene an international conference in Colombia with the objective of building the road map that allows effective political dialogue between society and the Venezuelan government,” Petro wrote on his Twitter account.

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Guaidó, hours later, responded to the Colombian president. “@petrogustavo, there is already a process, a negotiation facilitated by the Norwegians, with international support,” wrote the Venezuelan deputy. And he added: “The roadmap is clear: free elections in 2024. What is lacking is Maduro’s political will to go beyond rhetoric to concrete measures that allow progress.”

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The president, for now, has not responded to Guaidó.

The Venezuelan opposition plans to hold primary elections on October 22, in order to choose Chavismo’s opponent in the 2024 presidential elections. However, there are still issues to be defined, such as the support of the National Electoral Council (CNE ) and the participation of Venezuelans abroad.

In an interview with EL TIEMPO, Jesús María Casal, president of the National Commission for Primaries, affirmed that it will not be easy to advance this process, since there will always be obstacles on the part of the Government, headed by Nicolás Maduro, but he stressed that the intention is that the citizens once again trust in the vote as an instrument of struggle.

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The last time opposition primary elections were held in Venezuela was in 2012, when Henrique Capriles won. On that occasion, some three million Venezuelans gave their vote.

Earlier this month, the Voluntad Popular party announced that Juan Guaidó will be a candidate for the opposition primaries. The internal elections will also be attended by Henrique Capriles and María Corina Machado.

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Guaidó was interim president of Venezuela until January 5. Deputies of the National Assembly elected in 2015 revoked him from office, assuring that the interim had not given results, that is, it did not meet its objectives, which was to remove Nicolás Maduro from power.

WILLIAM MORENO HERNANDEZ
INTERNATIONAL WRITING
TIME