- Joined
- Dec 6, 2010
- Messages
- 33,423
- Reaction score
- 5,684
Maduro may allow food aid into Venezuela if opposition recognizes Assembly as legitimate
By Antonio Maria Delgado | January 11, 2018
By Antonio Maria Delgado | January 11, 2018
Facing an explosive crisis, Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro is considering allowing international food donations to enter his country, but wants the opposition to recognize the legitimacy of the controversial National Constituent Assembly (NCA).
Maduro also wants to control the distribution of the food donations — so far denied entry by the government despite growing food shortages and looting — according to sources close to the situation.
The proposal has been under consideration during negotiations between the government and opposition this week in the Dominican Republic, said three sources. Two of the sources are diplomats who have been briefed on the conversations, and the third is an opposition official.
The sources agreed that the arrival of humanitarian aid and the legitimacy of the NCA are two of the key issues under negotiation behind closed doors. Also on the agenda are the U.S. sanctions on the Maduro government and early presidential elections.
But the legitimacy of the Constituent Assembly would be difficult for the opposition to accept. The umbrella Democratic Unity Roundtable — known as MUD — has repeatedly called it a fraud organized by Maduro to seize total and unchallenged control of the nation.
“Accepting the Constituent Assembly means surrendering the country. It is legitimizing the regime’s staying in power and driving the final nail into the casket of freedom in Venezuela,” said Diego Arias, a former Venezuelan ambassador to the United Nations who lives in New York.
Opposition leader Maria Corina Machado agreed. “Any decision taken in the Dominican Republic to accept [the NCA] or even ignore it would be absolutely unacceptable to us,” she said.
The Constituent Assembly is a fraudulent entity that could reverse any government decisions, including any agreement reached in the Dominican Republic, Machado added, by phone from Venezuela.
http://www.miamiherald.com/news/nation-world/world/americas/venezuela/article194269574.html
Last edited: