Among the limited official information on the beginning of a dialogue process in Venezuela, many agree that such a process is needed, “serious and with concrete results”, to get the country out of the political, economic and social crisis it is going through. .
consulted by the voice of americaIndira Urbajena, political analyst and director of Reunificados, a non-profit organization dedicated to mediation, inclusion and reconciliation, said that work is being done to define where the process will continue, as well as the expansion and participation quota by sectors. .
“The only thing that will change is the format, the essence does not change if it is done in Mexico or Venezuela,” he said.
“The dialogue has to be inclusive and with the greatest presence of actors, because this is not about resolving the historical differences between an opposition and Chavismo, but about building solutions to the country’s challenges, generating governability, coexistence and the possibility of a shared future”, affirmed Urbajena.
He also said that a representation of the “different oppositions, of the social sectors of influence such as the Church, businessmen, the working class, NGOs, among others” is required.
Independent opposition political parties such as the Pencil Alliance have revealed that they will participate in the dialogue process announced at the beginning of the month by President Nicolás Maduro, hours after a meeting with a White House delegation.
The Pencil Alliance announced that it will present concrete proposals to solve key problems of Venezuelans and that, specifically, guarantee the growth of entrepreneurs and that children have access to food and education.
“From the Pencil we are not going to accept that in the dialogue it is intended to give neither alms nor crumbs to Venezuelan children. Our objective is that in this dialogue we have as a concrete result a national food plan that allows all educational units, national, state and municipal, to become school canteens”, explained Eric Ondarroa, secretary of political organization.
The candidate for mayor of Caracas and director of the Alianza del Pencil political party, Antonio Ecarri, ratified his participation in the dialogue table and stressed the need to put “differences aside” to “save a generation in danger,” in reference to children in a state of malnutrition and “condemned to violence”.
“That does not wait for 2024, that cannot wait for a political agreement,” he insisted.
The Movement for Socialism (MAS) party proposed a meeting of the opposition to “agree on common ideas”, before a meeting with the Government at the dialogue table.
“No sector of the opposition can have the representation of the entire Venezuelan opposition. There are different views of the problems, which is why we propose a national dialogue where the various political and social organizations can participate in an inclusive manner,” said Segundo Meléndez, president of the MAS.
Primaries and candidacies
Ecarri also announced that he will run as a candidate in the 2024 presidential elections without going through a primary process with the opposition, and insisted that his party has nothing to do with either the government or the traditional opposition, whose strategy, in his opinion, it has failed and was “corrupted”, referring to State resources controlled by the interim government.
“These primaries are going to be controlled by the G4 (main opposition parties), by the same losers as always, excluding the entire country, excluding the independents. This exclusion of the country to lead a monopoly does not make sense, ”he said.
Ecarri told VOA that there is a regulation approved by the G4, “behind the back of the country and where he does not want any of the independents to participate, nor does he want any other sector to participate but themselves.”
In this regard, a source from the Unitarian Platform denied to the VOA that some agreement had been reached, but he stated that a commission is currently studying and working on a primary mechanism.
Last week, Jorge Rodríguez, president of the National Assembly with a Chavista majority and head of the delegation of the dialogue table in Mexico between the government of President Nicolás Maduro and the opposition, said that they will not meet with Juan Guaidó, considered interim president. of Venezuela by dozens of countries.
Hours earlier, Guaidó had reiterated his willingness to reach an agreement in Mexico that “approximates a solution to the conflict.”
The dialogue table in Mexico was suspended in October of last year after the extradition to the United States of Colombian businessman Alex Saab, whom the Maduro government intended to incorporate into the dialogue table.
Connect with the Voice of America! Subscribe to our channel Youtube and turn on notifications, or follow us on social media: Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
