Venezuela talks break down as presidential vote looms
Dominican Republic Negotiations between Venezuela’s government and opposition have broken down after they failed to reach an agreement on a formula for upcoming presidential elections.
Talks aimed at resolving Venezuela’s grinding political and economic crisis have been taking place for weeks in the Dominican Republic. But the uphill effort fell apart with the two sides accusing one another of grandstanding and negotiating in bad faith.
Dominican President Danilo Medina, one of the international mediators, said Wednesday that the talks had entered an "indefinite recess" after government negotiators left the Caribbean island Tuesday night having signed a draft agreement that was unacceptable to the opposition.
The head of the opposition’s delegation, Julio Borges, urged the government to reconsider its stance while reiterating that he won’t sign an agreement that puts at risk Venezuela’s democracy. He called on Venezuela’s government to accept the opposition’s counter proposal.
"If the government wasn’t afraid of a free election it would have no choice but to sign our document, which is based on Venezuela’s laws," said Borges, vowing to make the counter proposal public in the coming hours.
Before hundreds of cheering supporters in Caracas, President Nicolas Maduro signed a draft of the agreement that the opposition coalition had rejected. But he added that the dialogue remains alive.
In the absence of a deal, Venezuela’s rancorous fight for power could become a lot uglier.
The Constituent Assembly, which is controlled by the government but considered illegitimate by the U.S. and many foreign governments, has called for elections to take place by the end of April, though it had stopped short of setting a date to give negotiations a chance.
If the government goes ahead with the vote, the opposition — or large parts of it — may decide to boycott the contest, making sure that many countries won’t recognize the results. It could also prompt the U.S. to follow through on a threat to cut off oil shipments from the OPEC nation.