Venezuela | Maduro conditions the dialogue with the opposition to the end of international sanctions

Negotiations between the Government of Venezuela and the opposition are in danger.

This Thursday, during his annual “accountability” speech in the National Assembly, the president of Venezuela, Nicolás Maduro, lashed out at the international community and said that the continuation of the dialogue with the opposition depended on the release of the sanctions imposed on the country.

“We are waiting for the Government of the United States of America to keep its word and release the resources of the 3,150 million dollars signed with the (opposition) Unitary Platform (PU), with the participation of the Government of the United States of America. We hope that deposit, then, to continue the talks, so that they are valid,” said the president.

The Venezuelan government and the opposition began a series of negotiations in November in Mexico City, with the main objective of unfreezing the between 3,000 and 5,000 million dollars retained in the Central Bank of Venezuela in the United States and in the Bank of England. with the help of the United States.

In his appearance, Maduro stated: “It is estimated, according to experts, that during these last eight years imperialism stole from the pockets of Venezuela the amount of 411 million dollars a day. A criminal robbery.”

Maduro also asked his US counterpart, Joe Biden, to lift “all sanctions” applied by the US government since 2018.

“Let’s seek and find a common destiny for Venezuela, and that common goal for Venezuela and that common objective must be said in one voice. ‘Enough of sanctions, that the Government of Joe Biden lift all criminal sanctions against the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela’ Enough of criminal sanctions.”

Once the negotiations between the Government of Venezuela and the opposition began, the United States authorized the oil company Chevron to resume the extraction of natural resources in the country.

The US Treasury department made it clear that this measure prevents the Venezuelan state oil company PDVSA from receiving profits from oil sales and that the rest of the sanctions remain in force.

Both the Government of Venezuela and the opposition clarified that, once the capital retained abroad is released, part of it will be used to finance the Chavista government and the other will go to a humanitarian aid fund managed by the UN. All this, with the purpose of alleviating the humanitarian crisis that the South American country is experiencing.

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