Venezuela’s New Political Dialogue Will Include 38 Political Parties and National Assembly
Orinoco Tribune, October 5, 2024 —
The president of the National Assembly of Venezuela, Jorge Rodríguez, announced that the previous national political dialogue mediated by the Norwegian government is no longer in effect and will be replaced by a new dialogue between 38 political parties and the National Assembly.
“The dialogue table is this one,” Rodríguez said during a meeting with representatives of the political parties at the National Assembly on Thursday, October 3. “We will not accept any small groups, private meetings, secret meetings, or any other gatherings outside the Federal Legislative Palace. We have called everyone together.”
The National Assembly president made this comment in response to the statement published by former far-right presidential candidate Edmundo González Urrutia, far-right politician María Corina Machado, and the Democratic Unitary Platform (PUD), where they stated that they will not participate in the political dialogue convened by the parliament.
Moreover, Rodríguez emphasized that the dialogue mediated by Norway was completely violated by the far-right opposition and, therefore, is null and void. He added that these far-right sectors have never recognized or respected the Venezuelan State institutions, but they do use the State to try to achieve their political ends or their aims of seizing power.
Far right violated all laws and agreements
“On the occasions when they succeeded, it has been a true tragedy for the lives of Venezuelans,” Rodríguez said, referring to the National Assembly election of 2015 that the opposition won.
He also emphasized that the extremist opposition never respected the Barbados Agreement, as one of its key points was to never resort to violence under any circumstances.
“Instead, 27 Venezuelans were murdered under the orders of González Urrutia and María Corina Machado,” Rodríguez pointed out. “There are 27 Venezuelans who deserve reparation and justice. This renders any agreement with Venezuelan extremism ineffective.”
He also referred to the agreement signed with a US delegation, “all of whose points were violated by the extremists.”
The main objective of the new dialogue with the political parties is to modify the Venezuelan legal framework so that fascist sectors cannot use the Venezuelan electoral system to generate violence.
“If they had not won the 2015 parliamentary elections, we would not have had all the incursions that have occurred to impact and threaten the peace of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela,” Rodríguez pointed out. “If they had not called for sanctions, for invasions, by mercenary and foreign armies, we would not be discussing this today.”
He also condemned the Venezuelan far right’s effort to create another parallel fake government. “It is not in Miami, nor Spain, nor the Congress of Spain, nor the Spanish courts, nor the US State Department. It is here in the Federal Legislative Palace, adjacent to the Plaza Bolívar in the city of Caracas, where the president elected on July 28, 2024, will be sworn in on January 10, 2025, by the president of the National Assembly, Jorge Rodríguez, and by the 277 deputies elected in December 2020,” he said.
Creation of three commissions
Rodríguez reported that during the first meeting with representatives of the political parties, three commissions were created to discuss the reforms of electoral laws. These working committees will start working from now on, and the next meeting will take place on October 8.
The first commission will be responsible for reviewing the electoral elements of the Constitution of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela. The second commission will evaluate the functioning of political parties and electoral organizations in Venezuela, and the third commission will work on legal reforms and the development of new laws.