Capriles Warns Venezuela Talks Without Machado 'Doomed to Fail'

Venezuelan opposition leader Henrique Capriles warned on Tuesday that any negotiation process that excludes Nobel Peace Prize laureate María Corina Machado "will be doomed to failure," following the announcement of a dialogue between chavismo and a sector of the opposition set for August 1.

The negotiation initiative

Opposition figure Dinorah Figuera, who defends the continuity of the 2015-elected parliament, returned to Venezuela on June 18 after eight years in exile to begin talks with chavista parliamentary leader Jorge Rodríguez, backed by the United States. The conversations were suspended after a double earthquake on June 24 that has left 5,278 dead and 16,740 injured. Source: Infobae/EFE Now, a new process has been announced for August 1.

Capriles' stance

In a post on X, Capriles stated that "any negotiation process cannot be a calculation of someone or against someone or to exclude someone. In that line, a negotiation excluding María Corina Machado, and what she represents, is doomed to fail." Source: Diario Libre He emphasized that "the reconstruction of Venezuela is at stake."

Machado's position

Machado, currently outside Venezuela and alleging obstacles to re-enter the country, has insisted that she has "the responsibility to lead" a negotiation with the government of Delcy Rodríguez. Last Wednesday, Machado and her candidate Edmundo González Urrutia met with the main opposition coalition, the Unitary Democratic Platform, to evaluate the agreed dialogue path, but details have not been disclosed. Source: Infobae