The opposition leader wants to get the EU to send observers, but this requires that the elections are not held in December
Former presidential candidate Henrique Capriles, along with other members of the opposition, is holding talks with the Government of Nicolás Maduro with a view to achieving a postponement of the parliamentary elections on December 6, although these contacts are stalled.
This has been revealed by the Bloomberg agency, which cites five sources familiar with the matter, after this week Capriles has been in the spotlight for the alleged contacts with the regime revealed by the Turkish Foreign Minister, Mevlut Cavusoglu, and from that he himself revealed that he had played a role in Maduro’s decision to pardon 110 people, including dozens of opponents.
According to the sources, Capriles and his allies are seeking the postponement in order that the European Union can send electoral observers, since the bloc needs a period of six months to prepare an observation mission. The intention of the former governor of Miranda and those who support him is to get the EU involved, since this could guarantee fair elections.
Although the Government has already sent invitation letters to the EU and the UN to act as observers, Maduro insists on keeping the date of December 6, arguing that a postponement until 2021 would constitute a violation of the Constitution, according to three of the sources consulted.
Given this circumstance, the opposition sector led by Capriles is contacting the EU member states to ask if they would supervise the vote separately, according to the sources.
For his part, the president of the National Assembly, Juan Guaidó, whom the United States and a large part of the EU members, including Spain, recognize as the legitimate president of Venezuela, flatly rejects the participation of the opposition in the elections. , which he considers a “farce” that seeks to “legitimize” the “dictatorship” of Maduro.
MEETING BETWEEN CAPRILES AND GUAIDÓ
After learning about Capriles’ contacts with the government, Guaidó made it clear that they did not have the support of the National Assembly. According to four of the sources consulted by Bloomberg, on Tuesday a meeting was held between Guaidó, Capriles and the main opposition party leaders to define how to proceed, which ended without an agreement.
“The constructive dialogue has formed a series of broad guarantees that make up an inclusive, participatory and fair electoral process,” Venezuela’s Information Minister Jorge Rodríguez has defended, in response to written questions to Bloomberg.
“We believe that the electoral accompaniment of the European Union and the Secretary General of the United Nations will verify that the parliamentary election will be carried out in a suitable and neat manner,” he added.
In the opinion of analyst Luis Vicente León, Maduro’s offer of electoral guarantees is likely to further divide the opposition. “The Maduro government is willing to comply with some of Capriles’ demands,” he said, underlining that they could “underestimate the possibility of him becoming a real threat.”
Talks between the government and some of its opponents have garnered support from Turkey, whose foreign minister said he had spoken to Capriles about the election observers issue. Also the sources consulted have assured that the high representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs, Josep Borrell, supports the negotiations.
