At the start of next week, a representative of the Venezuelan opposition will travel to the United States to continue talks begun with the interim government in Caracas aimed at preparing a “democratic transition.”
“I’m going to Miami precisely to assess what will follow. I have many meetings,” Dinorah Figuera told AFP in voice messages sent via WhatsApp.
The former opposition parliamentarian, in exile for eight years, had arrived in Caracas on Thursday “at the invitation of the State Department (…) with a view to establishing a credible National Electoral Council.”
She met with the President of the Parliament, Jorge Rodríguez, designated to lead the political dialogue by the interim president, Delcy Rodríguez, her sister.
The United States welcomed in a statement this meeting aimed at “discussing a program that will serve as a roadmap for political dialogue on a democratic transition.” This includes “the reconstruction of Venezuela’s democratic institutions, the strengthening of the CNE (National Electoral Council), the restoration of durable guarantees for political participation.”
“This is a first step in what will be a thoughtful process aimed at establishing a free and open Venezuelan society,” the State Department statement continued.
Exiled in Spain since 2018, Ms. Figuera had in 2023 led a symbolic parliamentary commission.
Her meeting with the Venezuelan authorities comes about six months after Nicolas Maduro was captured during a United States military intervention.
Ms. Figuera also spoke with the American chargé d’affaires, John Barrett, and with leaders of the Unified Platform, a coalition of opposition groups backing Nobel Peace Prize laureate Maria Corina Machado.
Machado, considered the leader of the opposition, had expressed at the end of May her “determination” to negotiate a democratic transition with Delcy Rodríguez. She has not yet commented on Dinorah Figuera’s brief visit and the role the United States has entrusted to her.
Dinorah Figuera for her part said that “there are respectable positions and points of convergence” within the Venezuelan opposition bloc, and she mentioned the idea of a possible meeting with the interim head of state during her “next” visit, without specifying a date.
She said she aimed to establish an electoral authority “worthy of trust, transparent,” noting a project that must “involve” Venezuelans who are in Venezuela and those abroad.
