Politics & Diplomacy
US says Venezuela’s third round of reconciliation talks agreed to revise repressive laws, claims more than 1,000 political prisoners freed
A State Department statement of 22 October says the talks between Venezuela's 2015 National Assembly and the interim government also advanced a new Supreme Court, restored more than 70 blocked websites and agreed on gold held in the Bank of England.
The United States says a third round of political reconciliation talks in Venezuela has produced agreement to review and revise “several repressive laws”, and that more than 1,000 political prisoners have been released since the process began. The claims come from a press statement issued on 22 October by State Department spokesman Tommy Pigott, published on the State Department website. The figures are Washington’s own; the statement does not cite an independent count.
What the talks involve
According to the statement, the talks bring together Venezuela’s 2015 National Assembly, led by Dr. Dinorah Figuera, and the interim government. Washington describes the process as Venezuelan-led and says it is meant to strengthen democratic institutions, expand political freedoms and prepare the ground for free, fair and credible elections. The statement gives no election date. An earlier conversation between President Trump and Delcy Rodríguez also ended without a vote date, as covered in Trump and Venezuela’s Rodríguez discuss elections, but no vote date emerges.
Results claimed by Washington
The State Department lists several outcomes of the latest round. The parties agreed to work to review and revise a number of laws it calls repressive, in order to widen political and social freedom and guarantee the participation of all political actors. The statement also says work on rebuilding an independent Supreme Court continues, with a selection process moving towards 32 new judges.
On press freedom, the statement says access has been restored to more than 70 previously blocked websites and that efforts to reform the Law Against Hatred have advanced. It adds that the talks produced an agreement to recover gold holdings in the Bank of England for earthquake relief. The statement does not give the value of the gold or a timetable for its return.
Political prisoners
The statement says the interim government has released a significant number of political prisoners since the reconciliation process began, bringing the total to more than 1,000 released since what it calls Operation Absolute Resolve. The US government “continue[s] to urge for the immediate release of all political prisoners”, it says. The statement does not cite an independent body for that figure.
Rubio and the three-phase plan
The statement recalls that Secretary of State Marco Rubio met Dr. Figuera on 9 October, commended what it calls her courageous leadership and urged continued progress on political freedoms and electoral reform. It says the Trump administration remains committed to supporting the process as part of a three-phase plan, set out by President Trump and Secretary Rubio, for stabilisation, economic recovery and political reconciliation leading to a peaceful democratic transition.
No statement from the Venezuelan interim government or from Dr. Figuera on the outcome of the third round had been read when this article was written, so the results above rest on the US account alone.
