Maduro announces new talks with the Biden Administration

Nicolás Maduro seeks dialogue with the White House. The Venezuelan dictator informed that -allegedly- he will start talks with Joe Biden's Administration to seek new agreements. Maduro's decision comes just one month before the presidential elections in which, despite the disadvantage, polls show the Venezuelan opposition, led by María Corina Machado, to be the winner.

"We are going to debate and seek new agreements so that what was signed in Qatar is fulfilled, I want dialogue, I want understanding, I want a future for our relations, I want changes, that yes, under the absolute sovereignty and independence of Venezuela," Maduro said in a broadcast on the state channel Venezolana de Televisión.

According to the socialist, the Government of Joe Biden was the one who made the proposal to hold the meeting. However, the White House did not respond to a request for comment by several media outlets.

Maduro's announcement was celebrated by Colombia's socialist president, Gustavo Petro. "Excellent. First of all, the dignity of the Venezuelan people," Petro wrote in a message posted on the X social network.

Joe Biden's administration has shaken hands several times with Nicolás Maduro, who has been indicted in the International Criminal Court for human rights violations in Venezuela. Democratic administration officials met late last year in Qatar, AFP recalled.

"The details of the talks did not transcend, but they culminated in a prisoner swap: the United States released Alex Saab, accused of being a front man for Maduro, and Venezuela released 28 prisoners, 10 Americans and 18 Venezuelans," AFP reported.

Meetings were also reported in April of this year."

During Donald Trump's administration, the Venezuelan regime was pressured to bring about political change. Trump's foreign policy to push for Venezuelan freedom was tougher. He increased sanctions against Chavista regime officials, and U.S. authorities took significant steps to formally charge several members of the dictatorship with drug trafficking.

The sanctions included freezing the accounts and assets of the officials. As well as transaction bans, asset seizures, arms embargoes and travel bans. The United States also applied additional sanctions to the oil, gold, mining and banking industries.

However, with the arrival of Joe Biden to power, the strategy changed. Democratic officials have opted to promote dialogue with Maduro. Another fact that demonstrated the shift in U.S. policy to address the Venezuelan crisis, was the release of the two nephews of Cilia Flores, Maduro's wife, detained in the United States for drug trafficking offenses. In exchange, the dictator released seven Americans, among them five former executives of Citgo, detained in Venezuela since 2017.

In the midst of these negotiations between Joe Biden and Nicolás Maduro, millions of Venezuelans expect the allies of democracy and freedom in Venezuela to promote a transparent and reliable electoral process in which they can express their yearnings for change. An average of polls conducted by the Spanish newspaper El Pais shows that the opposition candidate backed by Maria Corina Machado, Edmundo Gonzalez Urrutia, would win a presidential election with guarantees by a margin of at least 30 points.