This Sunday, Portugal saluted the Government of President Nicolás Maduro and the Venezuelan opposition for having resumed dialogue in Mexico, insisting that they should lead to free and fair elections and the restoration of democratic institutions.

“Portugal congratulates the Venezuelan parties and the Norwegian mediators for the route of the trips in Mexico City”, according to a message from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MNE) of Portugal.

In the message, released on Instagram by the Embassy of Portugal in Caracas, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs also states that it wants “that the participants in the dialogue take the necessary steps to carry out a free and fair election, and the full restoration of democratic institutions”.

The Government and the opposition of Venezuela signed on Saturday, in Mexico, a second partial agreement on social protection, in the terms of the signatures resumed between the two parties.

The agreement, which aims to unlock resources that Venezuela has frozen abroad to help the most eligible residents, determines that the Government and the opposition will have to cooperate in terms of humanitarian expenses, such as paying for medical assistance projects or registering electrical networks. .

Suspended for more than a year, as occurred between the Venezuelan government and opposition, they were resumed after the intervention of Colombia and the United States.

Reacting from Miami, USA, an organization that represents Venezuelans in exile for political reasons, Veppex, disapproved of the resumption of negotiations, considering that the Maduro Government obtains advantages without “any concessions that benefit Venezuelans” and that the beneficial unitary platform “the Maduro regime and its international allies”.

On November 24, the Venezuelan opposition, allied with former parliamentary speaker Juan Guaidó, confirmed that it would resume dialogue with the government of President Nicolás Maduro, suspended since October 2021.

“The negotiation process will be resumed based on the Memorandum of Understanding signed, under the mediation of the Kingdom of Norway, in Mexico City on August 13, 2021, which should never have been suspended and for whose re-establishment we have maintained a constant struggle”, explains the opposition in a statement released in Caracas by the Unitary Platform of Venezuela (PUV).

In the document, the opposition says it ratifies “the willingness to work together, to reach agreements that managed to materialize negotiations that guarantee the well-being of all Venezuelans”, understanding “that there will be no real solution to the crisis without an agreement comprehensive policy that gives solutions to the people”.

The opposition insists that “Venezuelans suffered the consequences of the absence of human rights guarantees and a favorable decision that won solutions to the needs” of the multitude.

It is also urgent to reach “tangible and real agreements that translate into solutions to the humanitarian crisis, respect for human rights, respect for the rule of law and, especially, the construction of conditions and institutions that guarantee, among other things, free guarantees and observables”, states the document.

On October 17, 2021, the Venezuelan Government suspended negotiations with the opposition, which had been taking place since August 2021 in Mexico, with the mediation of Norway.

The suspension occurred one day after the extradition, from Cape Verde to the United States, of Colombian businessman Alex Saab, considered a figurehead of Maduro.

The Venezuelan government named Saab as one of the representatives in the negotiations and conditioned him to resume dialogue with the opposition to his release.

On November 11, 2022, the Venezuelan opposition, allied with Juan Guaidó, and rejected as representing the Government of President Nicolás Maduro, accepted a request from the President of France, Emmanuel Macron, to participate in the Forum for Peace, which took place in Paris.

According to Jorge Rodríguez, head of the late government, during the meeting the delegations negotiated an agreement that would be announced shortly.