Key Ally of Opposition Leader Guaido Freed From Venezuelan Jail

(Bloomberg) -- Venezuela lawmaker Edgar Zambrano, a top ally of opposition leader Juan Guaido, was released from jail on Tuesday, according to Public Prosecutor Tarek William Saab.

Zambrano was released on probation as part of agreements reached between the government and some elements of the country’s politicial opposition, according to a statement cited by Saab in a Twitter post.

President Nicolas Maduro’s regime and opposition splinter groups on Monday announced a surprise agreement that calls for lawmakers from Maduro’s United Socialist party to return to the opposition-controlled National Assembly and reform of the discredited electoral authority. In return, the opposition parties involved in the deal have called for economic sanctions to be lifted, while recognizing the regime’s puppet National Constituent Assembly.

Separate talks held in Barbados between the regime’s negotiators and Guaido, recognized by the U.S. and dozens of its allies as Venezuela’s legitimate president, broke up over the weekend without an agreement.

Guaido in a statement Sunday said that a new stage of confronting the Maduro regime would begin. Speaking Tuesday, Maduro said that representatives of Norway, which had moderated the talks in Barbados, had visited Venezuela between Sept. 14-16.

Analysts say the pact between the government and a small part of the opposition won’t move the needle as Guaido and the main opposition parties didn’t take part. The U.S. last week said it was joining Guaido and ten other countries in invoking the Inter-American Treaty of Reciprocal Assistance, known as the Rio Treaty, which is a regional mutual defense agreement that could establish a legal path for military intervention.

To contact the reporter on this story: Jose Orozco in Mexico City at jorozco8@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Ney Hayashi at ncruz4@bloomberg.net, Robert Jameson

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