Venezuela´s political opposition will meet with a delegation from the government of President Nicolas Maduro in Barbados this week in an effort to negotiate a resolution to the protracted conflict.
Juan Guaido, president of the opposition-controlled National Assembly and self-declared acting president of Venezuela, confirmed the planned talks, which will be mediated by the Norwegian government.
A first round of negotiations in Oslo in early May collapsed shortly after they began.
In anticipation of the talks on the Caribbean island, Guaido will meet privately with Spanish-Uruguayan economist Enrique Iglesias, who was appointed special adviser for Venezuela in late May by EU high representative/vice-president Federica Mogherini.
"We do not have unlimited time, every day that passes the situation gets worse," Guaido said in a statement yesterday confirming the negotiations. He referred to a UN report last week that painted a dark picture of human rights in Venezuela.
Guaido is under pressure to show progress in the face of flagging popular support, especially in the aftermath of a failed 30 April military uprising that was supposed to force Maduro out of power.
The negotiations appear to pose more risks for the US-backed opposition than for Maduro. Guaido and his supporters had rejected dialogue on the basis of previous failed talks that were perceived as a pretext for Maduro to remain in power. But six months into his campaign to unseat Maduro, install a transition government and convene free elections, and with little hope of a US-led military intervention, Guaido has ceded to an EU-led initiative to re-engage with his foe.
The new round of talks comes on the eve of a further tightening of US oil sanctions. On 27 July, US major Chevron, one of Venezuela national oil company PdV´s main partners, will need to withdraw from the country unless it secures a waiver from the US Treasury to stay.
PdV´s own operations continue to deteriorate. Over the weekend a blackout shut down the company´s main refining complex which was already operating at very low levels because of equipment breakdowns and a shortage of feedstock.
