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Venezuelan opposition leader and Nobel Peace Prize laureate Maria Corina Machado said Sunday that she would not participate in U.S.-backed talks with the interim government of Delcy Rodriguez, arguing that her coalition was excluded from designing the process.
The negotiations, scheduled for Aug. 1, are intended to establish a framework for political reconciliation.
Machado announced in a joint statement with former presidential candidate Edmundo Gonzalez, distancing their coalition from the initiative and calling for clear information about its structure and objectives.
“Members of the 2015 National Assembly and representatives of the regime have announced the creation of a mechanism between the two sides in which we did not participate in its design, development, or operation,” the statement said.
“It is not our place to explain its scope or decisions. Those behind it must inform the country of its objectives, methodology, and timeline.”
In mid-July, Rodriguez’s interim administration and a group of former lawmakers from the 2015-2020 National Assembly agreed on a roadmap to “strengthen democracy.”
The faction is led by Dinorah Figuera, a prominent Venezuelan opposition leader who had lived in exile in Spain since 2018.
Figuera returned to Caracas through a U.S.-coordinated operation.
The U.S. government welcomed the dialogue as an important step toward political stabilization following the capture of former President Nicolas Maduro in January.
Key issues expected to be discussed include appointing a new National Electoral Council, electing judges and establishing conditions for future elections.
Machado said she would not obstruct genuine efforts toward a democratic transition but argued that any credible negotiation must include firm guarantees.
She called for the full restoration of democratic institutions, the immediate release of all political prisoners and equal electoral guarantees for all political actors.
Machado also demanded a binding timeline for presidential elections that respects what she described as the popular sovereignty demonstrated in the 2024 vote.
She has lived in exile since December, after leaving Venezuela to accept her Nobel Prize in Oslo.
Machado and Gonzalez reaffirmed their commitment to return to Venezuela and advance what they called the “Grand National Agreement for the Reconstruction of the Republic.”
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