Maduro announces arrival of Norwegian commission for talks

CARACAS, Venezuela

Venezuela’s President Nicolas Maduro announced on Tuesday that a mission from the Norwegian government arrived in Venezuela to promote a dialogue between the government and the opposition.

Both parties have manifested their willingness to dialogue under the moderation of the Norwegian commission. They have also said that the dialogue would mainly consist of negotiating the holding of presidential elections in exchange for the lifting of the US sanctions on Venezuela.

Specifically, Maduro is demanding the lifting of the US sanctions, the international recognition of the national assembly elected in December, and the return of the assets and bank accounts of the Venezuelan government overseas, as these are now frozen by Washington.

"The Norwegian dialogue commission is already in the country. This dialogue that is going to be installed must starkly outline all the points of interest, as the lifting of sanctions, recognition of public powers, and the return of Venezuelan resources," the president said at a televised address.

Regarding the holding of presidential elections, Maduro manifested his willingness to “take the opponents of the revolution to the terrain where everything is defined, the popular vote.”

Maduro also mentioned that he wants the dialogue to be held in public, with “statements, photographs, images, and transparency.”

"If we are going to gather the table, it has to be a public act, with cameras and journalists, with statements, photographs, images, and transparency, zero secrecy, as it should be [...] the meetings must be public and the country must know the details," Maduro said.