The delegation of the Maduro regime conditioned the dialogue with the opposition to the release of blocked funds

Jorge Rodriguezhead of the Chavismo delegation at the negotiating table with the Venezuelan opposition in Mexico, conditioned this Tuesday the continuation of this process to the release of some 3,000 million dollars in blocked funds, agreed at the last meeting.

“If the return to the people of Venezuela of the $3.2 billion that they had robbed him, that they had kidnapped him and that we had agreed that they would be returned to him, since there is no reason to continue a dialogue with people without a word,” said Rodríguez, president of the Parliament with a pro-government majority, during a session.

At the last meeting in Mexico at the end of 2022, the parties agreed to release that amount, part of the funds blocked by international sanctions against Maduro, which will be managed by the UN to finance social projects.

“We are waiting for that deposit to continue the talks, so that they are valid,” said the dictator Maduro last week in his annual message to Parliament.

The parliamentarian once again accused the opposition of “stealing” the country’s assets abroad, and stressed that it is their responsibility that they be returned. “If I put my signature and put my name on a document, on a commitment, my moral obligation , ethical, spiritual, is to comply with and enforce those agreements”, he added.

So far there has been no news about the mobilization of money. The Financial Assets Control Office (OFAC) of the United States did not immediately respond to a request from the AFP of a comment.

Rodríguez’s warning comes days after the elimination of the symbolic interim government headed by the leader Juan Guaido since 2019, amid deep fractures within the opposition.

Regarding this decision, Leopoldo Lopezlocated in the most radical wing of the Venezuelan opposition, accused opposition delegates in the negotiations in Mexico of playing in favor of the interests of the Chavista regime.

The dialogues in Mexico resumed in November 2022 after being suspended for 15 months after the businessman was extradited to the United States alex saabaccused of laundering and accused of being the front man for Maduro.

Besides, Rodríguez rejected this Tuesday that the United States Government keep its sanctions policy against the Caribbean country “intact”as a spokesman for the State Department of the North American nation stated yesterday.

“One sees with sadness, with displeasure, how a number of Venezuelan politicians leave (…) they submit to the presence and the opinions of a foreign country that, furthermore, dares to threaten Venezuela, dares to point out that They will continue with the sanctions. If they want, we want. If they become radicalized, well, we know about that, ”he said during a speech in the AN.

He insisted that the Maduro regime will not bow “in front of any foreign power that tries to govern the destinies of the Republic”, and that they will continue to “defeat” the blockade and the sanctions imposed.

A State Department spokesman told Monday EFE that as long as “Maduro and his followers continue to repress the Venezuelan people and divert resources to corrupt practices,” the US will continue “to pressure the regime with sanctions.”

With information from AFP and AP

Keep reading: