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Venezuela crisis: Opposition announces talks in Barbados Venezuela crisis: Opposition announces talks in Barbados
(about 8 hours later)
Venezuela's opposition says it has agreed to resume talks with President Nicolás Maduro to try to resolve a prolonged political crisis. Talks between the Venezuelan opposition and the government to resolve the country's political crisis will resume this week in Barbados.
A meeting between opposition and government officials will be held in Barbados, self-declared interim President Juan Guaidó says. The Norwegian foreign ministry, which has been acting as a mediator, said the two sides would meet "to move forward in the search for a negotiated and constitutional solution".
A date for the talks mediated by Norway was not given. Dialogue between the two sides broke down in May. The two sides have been engaged in a bitter power struggle since January.
There was no immediate comment from Mr Maduro's government. Preliminary talks held in May in Oslo petered out without an agreement.
Mr Guaidó, head of the country's National Assembly, declared himself interim president in January and has the backing of more than 50 countries, including the US and most of Latin America. What is known about the talks?
Mr Maduro retains the loyalty of most of the military and important allies such as China and Russia. So far, hardly any details have emerged. Neither the exact date nor who will attend has been announced.
Some four million people have fled Venezuela since 2015, according to the UN, amid a severe economic crisis that has resulted in high unemployment and chronic shortages of food and medicine. Juan Guaidó, the head of the opposition-controlled National Assembly, laid out the opposition's aim on Twitter. The statement [in Spanish] said the goal was to "negotiate a way out from the dictatorship".
What's the current political situation? The roadmap the opposition proposes consists of three points:
"In response to the mediation of the Kingdom of Norway [the opposition] will attend a meeting with representatives of the usurper regime in Barbados, to establish a negotiation on the end of the dictatorship," Mr Guaido said in a statement. The government's communications minister, Jorge Rodríguez, also tweeted, saying he was praying for the government's efforts "to consolidate peace and national understanding to bear fruit".
President Maduro has intensified a crackdown on the opposition since a failed military uprising against him in April led by Mr Guaidó. What's the background?
Since the failed rebellion, described by Mr Maduro as part of a US-orchestrated coup, many opposition MPs have lost their parliamentary immunity and some have been arrested. Mr Guaidó and President Maduro have been at loggerheads since January, when the former invoked the constitution and declared himself interim president, arguing that the elections which had returned Mr Maduro to power for a second term in 2018 had not been free and fair.
While Mr Guaidó's parliamentary immunity has been lifted, he has so far not been jailed, even though he recently said he did not rule out the use of military force to oust Mr Maduro from power. Since then, more than 50 countries, including the United States and most nations in Latin America, have recognised Mr Guaidó as Venezuela's legitimate leader.
But Venezuela's military - a powerful force in the country - and influential allies such as China and Russia have stuck by Mr Maduro.
An attempt by Mr Guaidó to get the military to switch allegiance to him failed, and the country remains in limbo with both men claiming to be the legitimate president.
Meanwhile, a severe economic crisis has exacerbated and shortages of food and medicines have grown even more acute. United Nations figures suggest four million people have fled the country since 2015.
The government blames the shortages on US sanctions but the opposition says they are down to years of mismanagement.
Why are the talks controversial?
Just a week ago Mr Guaidó ruled out a return to negotiations, citing as a reason the death in custody of an army captain whose body showed signs of torture.
In the statement he released, Mr Guaidó did not say why his stance had changed. Some in the opposition say the talks are a ruse by the government to buy itself more time in power.
Previous negotiations have broken down without an agreement and some in the opposition say the government's crackdown on rival politicians - with more than a dozen opposition lawmakers being stripped of their parliamentary immunity and others being detained - shows President Maduro has no real interest in negotiating.
A United Nations report released on Friday said the Venezuelan government was using a strategy of instilling fear in its population to retain power. The Venezuelan government responded by saying the UN report was one-sided and biased.