Venezuela's Government And Opposition Will Hold Direct Talks For The First Time

• 2.08.2026, 10:53

The parties will discuss aid for earthquake victims and the country's democratization.

The Venezuelan government will hold its first face-to-face talks with the opposition in Caracas next week to discuss aid victims of the recent earthquake and the country’s democratization.

This was announced on Saturday, August 1, by the president of the National Assembly and the Venezuelan government’s chief negotiator, Jorge Rodríguez, according to "Deutsche Welle".

According to him, the opposition will be represented in the negotiations by Dinora Figuera, who previously held Rodriguez’s position. In 2018, the politician was forced to leave Venezuela for fear of persecution. Figera leads the center-right opposition bloc, which won the 2015 parliamentary elections and was recognized by Washington but not by former Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro.

Nobel Peace Prize laureate Machado was not invited to the talks

According to AFP, the talks between the government in Caracas—which, following the United States’ takeover of Nicolás Maduro, is temporarily headed by Delcy Rodríguez—and the opposition are supported by Washington. Participants in the meeting are expected to discuss the restoration of democratic institutions and the strengthening of the electoral system, as well as the schedule for new elections.

The last elections in Venezuela took place in 2024. The country’s authorities announced that then-head of state Maduro had won. The opposition refused to recognize the election results and claimed that its candidate—Edmundo González Urrutia—had received the majority of the votes.

Nobel Peace Prize laureate and opposition representative María Corina Machado, who is considered an ally of González and currently lives in exile, also promised to return to her homeland. However, she was not invited to the negotiations.