Venezuela Opposition Leader Leaves Mexico Talks on Maduro Veto

(Bloomberg) -- Venezuela’s opposition replaced one of its representatives in political negotiations held in Mexico after President Nicolas Maduro’s government vetoed his participation in the talks that restarted on Friday. 

Carlos Vecchio, the political opposition’s envoy to the U.S., stepped down from the talks aimed at overcoming a political stalemate amid the country’s worst general crisis in decades.

“My actions in favor of Venezuela’s freedom have annoyed the dictatorship,” leading government representatives to “request this exclusion” from the talks, Vecchio said in a statement posted on his Twitter account. 

Freddy Guevara, a Popular Will party leader recently released from prison, will replace Vecchio, the opposition representatives said on their respective Twitter accounts. 

The parties are working on “early humanitarian agreements” that will be announced soon, Gerardo Blyde, another opposition participant in the talks, said on Twitter.

The government has said it plans to use the new round of talks, which end on Sept. 6, to demand an easing of opposition-supported U.S. sanctions, which it says has damaged the Venezuelan economy. 

©2021 Bloomberg L.P.