Overview
- A meeting announced June 18 between National Assembly President Jorge Rodríguez and exiled opposition leader Dinorah Figuera produced an agreement to create a parity “mesa técnica y política” with a work agenda and concrete timetables.
- The U.S. Department of State publicly welcomed the initiative and U.S. diplomats facilitated Figuera’s return to Caracas, including meetings with the chargé d’affaires and transport in U.S. embassy vehicles.
- The agreed priorities include rebuilding democratic institutions, strengthening the National Electoral Council (CNE), restoring guarantees for political participation, and protecting freedom of expression.
- Key opposition figures and blocs such as María Corina Machado and parts of the Plataforma Unitaria Democrática are not participating, leaving the talks politically contested and their implementation uncertain.
- The process is at an early, agenda-setting stage and must overcome a decade-long institutional dispute between the 2015 opposition parliament and chavista institutions, including the existence of a parallel, internationally backed opposition assembly.