Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro shares update on talks with Washington amid sanctions

Caracas, Venezuela – Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro said Monday that talks with the US, which has reimposed crippling sanctions on the South American country’s oil industry, will resume soon ahead of this month’s elections.

Maduro claimed that Washington had initiated the proposal and that Caracas had agreed to it after two months of careful consideration.

“Negotiations with the United States will resume next Wednesday,” Maduro said on state television.

Last year, the US and Venezuela began secret negotiations in Qatar, eventually agreeing to a massive prisoner swap brokered by the Gulf state.

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Washington released Maduro ally Alex Saab, whom the US accused of laundering money for Caracas.

In return, Venezuela handed over a fugitive named Leonard Francis, who was at the center of the worst corruption scandal ever in the U.S. Navy. It also freed 20 Venezuelan political prisoners and released 10 American prisoners.

The US also suspended some sanctions after Maduro’s government and the opposition agreed in Barbados last October to hold free and fair elections in 2024 under the watchful eye of international observers.

But the thaw ended when Maduro’s opponents were banned from running against him in elections and sanctions were reinstated in April.

“We are going to discuss it and make new agreements so that everything is respected, (especially) what we signed in Qatar in September,” Maduro said.

The Venezuelan leader said he hoped for “dialogue, understanding and a future for our relationship.”

The US State Department declined to comment when asked by AFP about Maduro’s remarks.