Once again, the dialogue and negotiation between the Venezuelan government and the opposition enters a phase of stagnation. This time not because of the imprisonment of the Colombian Álex Saab, but because of a commitment that has not yet been fulfilled: the unblocking of 3,000 million dollars of Venezuelan assets abroad.
(Also read: The United States responds to Maduro that it will maintain its sanctions against Venezuela)
In November, both parties agreed in Mexico, the host country for the talks, that a fund would be created through the United Nations so that the money would be managed transparently and thus address health, education and food issues in the country.
Last week, Jorge Rodríguez, head of the official sector, assured that the money was still withheld and that the opposition was not keeping its word.
“If the return to the people of Venezuela of the 3,200 million dollars that were stolen from the people of Venezuela and that we had agreed to return is not fulfilled, pBecause there is no reason to continue a dialogue with people without words”, He said on Tuesday from the National Assembly, the instance that he presides over.
This Friday, Gerardo Blyde, head of the opposition Unitary Platform, assured from Caracas that “it was also pointed out that” the 3,000 million of the signed social agreement “were going to be transferred in one fell swoop, it was never pointed out that it was going to enter any account of the Maduro government”.
Blyde, accompanied by other members of the negotiating team, also insisted that the figure is not 3,200 but 3,000 and that for this, several issues concerning political and legal issues must be unblocked.
It was never indicated that the 3,000 million of the social agreement signed were going to be transferred in one fell swoop
For example, the commission that is supposed to be in charge of the process together with the UN has not yet been created, but in addition to this, there are Venezuelan assets in countries like France, Portugal, Japan, and others that “only they know about,” he said. Blyde referring to the Maduro administration.
In these countries there are legal obstacles, due to the recognition or not of Maduro as president and another important factor, the sanctions imposed by the United States on Venezuela.
The greatest obstacle seems to lie precisely at that point, since it seems that the release of the funds depends to a large extent on the United States. A source told EL TIEMPO that even if the opposition together with the UN want to start mobilizing resources, there are guidelines from the Biden administration that prevent this from happening, since this means relaxing sanctions, otherwise, the countries that have the assets Venezuelans would not risk releasing them.
A few days ago, the Unitary Platform met with US representatives. When asked about this, Blyde replied that the US is certainly helping to unlock the funds.
The Joe Biden administration ratified this week that the sanctions against Venezuela would be maintained, in addition to recognizing the opposition parliament as the legitimate National Assembly, this caused anger in Maduro, who asked for the sanctions to be lifted immediately.
The Venezuelan president said that “imperialism and its weaklings and extremist lackeys stole from Venezuela the amount of 411 million dollars per day.”
It seems then that the dialogue, which was paralyzed for a year after Saab’s extradition to the United States, is once again at its point of suspension, with the Biden administration being a key factor in whether or not to continue it.
Chavismo threatens to rise up and the opposition has asked this Tuesday to continue sitting for what they describe as a good for Venezuelans, however until now there are no guarantees that the 3,000 million dollars will be transferred, much less that the Maduro administration I waited a long time for them.
Blyde insisted that it is a slow process and read from the document signed by both sectors that “the parties have identified a set of resources belonging to the Venezuelan State, frozen in the international financial system, to which it is possible to access progressively, understanding the need to obtain the authorizations and approvals that are the responsibility of foreign institutions and organizations”.
ANA MARIA RODRIGUEZ BRAZON
WEATHER CORRESPONDENT
CARACAS
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