▲ Gerardo Alberto Blyde Pérez, head of delegation of the Unitary Platform of Venezuela; Foreign Minister Marcelo Ebrard; Dag Nylander, director of the Norwegian Center for Conflict Resolution, and Jorge Rodríguez, head of the Venezuelan government delegation, during the message yesterday to the press.Photo Yazmín Ortega Cortés
Fernando Camacho Servin
Newspaper La Jornada
Sunday November 27, 2022, p. 4
The Venezuelan government and the representatives of the so-called Unitary Platform of Venezuela signed an agreement yesterday in Mexico City through which the authorities of the South American country will be allowed to meet the most urgent social demands of its population, using millionaire resources that are currently abroad and that the administration of Nicolás Maduro considers kidnapped
.
At the ceremony, headed by Mexican Foreign Minister Marcelo Ebrard, it was agreed to launch a partial agreement on social matters
whose purpose is to solve the most pressing needs of Venezuelans, including the problems that exist in various public services.
The foregoing, it was indicated, will be possible with the recovery of assets of the Venezuelan State that today are in the international financial system –equivalent to some 3 billion dollars– and that the government of the South American nation considers kidnapped
as Maduro recently defined in a radio program.
In a brief message at the beginning of the event, Ebrard pointed out that the agreements are a hope for all of Latin America. It is good news when there is dialogue, there is mediation. It is the triumph of politics, of the solution of controversies
.
practical mechanism
The representative of the Venezuelan government in the talks, Jorge Rodríguez, president of the National Assembly of that country, had announced on his Twitter account that with this agreement creates a practical mechanism, aimed at addressing social and vital needs and addressing public service problems, based on the recovery of legitimate resources, property of the Venezuelan State, which today are blocked in the international financial system
.
During the reading of the agreements that were signed yesterday, the mediator of the Kingdom of Norway, Dag Nylander, emphasized that the funds obtained will be administered by the United Nations (UN) and will be used to implement social protection measures
through authorizations that are the responsibility of the governments of the countries where these resources are located.
As will be recalled, in September 2021 the government and the opposition in Venezuela agreed to resume bilateral talks, with an agenda made up of seven points, including the lifting of the sanctions imposed by the United States against the South American country in 2017, which include an oil embargo and asset blockade.
However, a few weeks later the contacts were interrupted by decision of the Venezuelan authorities, after the extradition to the United States of Alex Saab was announced, designated by the Maduro government as its diplomatic representative, and who in 2020 was arrested in Cabo Verde, while making a stopover on a humanitarian trip to Iran.
After signing the agreements yesterday, Ebrard stated on his Twitter account: It is a triumph of politics. In the case of Venezuela, we have always supported the prevalence of dialogue and mediation. Today the facts make history and prove the policy followed by the president (Andrés Manuel) López Obrador to contribute to understanding
.
After signing the agreement, the United States government authorized the energy giant Chevron to partially resume its oil extraction activities in Venezuela.
