Venezuela and the United States resume dialogue; CITCO auction postponed

By Patrizia Antonini – The election campaign in Venezuela has reached its climax. Amid fears of fresh reprisals against the opposition, accusations of censorship and exhortations from world capitals to respect democracy over the government, the United States on July 28 asked President Nicolás Maduro to resume talks to guarantee “competitive and inclusive”. “.

Washington’s attempt to take advantage of the oil embargo comes with a US court’s decision to delay the outcome of a mandatory bid for Houston-based Venezuelan refinery Citco. A Manhattan appeals court ruling that overturned a billion-dollar conviction against Venezuelan oil giant PDVSA points in the same direction.

Venezuela’s ambassador to the United Nations, Samuel Moncada, commented that “everything that deceives us is in our eyes” and took to social media to “punish” the opposition (aligned with the United States) in the election.

The President of the Venezuelan Assembly, Jorge Rodríguez, highlighted at the end of a virtual meeting with the North American delegation that “the dialogue should only be for what was agreed in Qatar.” In other words, for oil.

Lula’s Brazil, which was more open to dialogue with its neighbors, was open to reintegrating Venezuela into Mercosur, after its suspension in 2017, precisely because of the fact that Maduro did not respect the system’s “democratic rule.” However, Ambassador Gisela Padovan, Secretary for Latin America and the Caribbean at the Brazilian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, noted that without normal elections, “sanctions cannot be repealed.” [dos EUA] And there will be no “reunification” in Mercosur.

Venezuela’s United Socialist Party (ruling majority) has announced 70 events in 10 days to mark former president Hugo Chavez’s 70th birthday and began mobilizing across the country.

With their initiatives, the opposition marched from Caracas through the city’s main roads. “From today we will take to the streets every day across Venezuela,” announced Machado, who told a meeting of the UN Human Rights Council to urge the international community to be “vigilant”. Fair, free and transparent according to the Barbados Treaties. .