Venezuela opposition backs Colombia summit to discuss talks with Maduro

A Venezuelan opposition coalition has voiced its approval of an international summit in Colombia next week to discuss their deadlocked negotiations with President Nicolas Maduro's government.

Representatives of the Unitary Platform coalition met with Colombian President Gustavo Petro, who is acting as a mediator between Venuzuela's government and the opposition. 

Officials from about 20 countries, including the United States, are expected to meet in Bogota on Tuesday in an attempt to unfreeze negotiations that began in Mexico City in 2021 but reached an impasse in November. 

After Saturday's meeting in Colombia's Sopo, opposition leader Gerardo Blyde applauded "Petro's initiative".

"We believe this meeting is very important, we support it... we expect and hope for the success of the next summit on 25th (of April)." 

Demand to lift sanctions 

Venezuela's opposition, backed by many countries, including the United States, did not recognise Maduro's 2018 re-election in a vote widely dismissed as fraudulent.

The next year, Washington ramped up sanctions against Caracas, which were first imposed in 2015 over the brutal repression of anti-government protests.

Last month, a Venezuelan official said free presidential elections in 2024 were dependent on the lifting of sanctions.

The dialogue in the Mexican capital "constitutes, without a doubt, the fundamental tool that our people have to get out of the political, economic and social crisis that plagues them," he said.

On Thursday, Colombia's Petro asked his US counterpart Joe Biden to gradually lift economic sanctions on Caracas with the commitment that next year's presidential elections will be held with guarantees for the opposition. 

The idea would be to draw up "an electoral timetable with guarantees and a parallel lifting of sanctions", Colombian Foreign Minister Alvaro Leyva told reporters on Saturday.

Juan Guaido, recognised in 2019 by more than 50 countries as Venezuela's de facto leader, has rejected Petro's calls for sanctions against the country to be lifted.

Venezuela's opposition voted to disband its symbolic "interim government" in January and replaced Guaido as the head of a parallel congress made up of opposition lawmakers. 

The divided opposition has set October 22 as the date for primaries that will select a candidate to face Maduro in the elections next year. 

READ MORE: Colombia's Petro supports lifting Venezuela sanctions in Biden meeting