Venezuela abandons Nicolás Maduro to fate in US jail - financial times
Venezuela’s government made no mention of freeing jailed ex-president Nicolás Maduro during nearly two weeks of talks with the opposition this month, in the clearest sign yet that the regime has abandoned him to the US justice system.
Interim president Delcy Rodríguez in January called the US capture and exfiltration of Maduro and his wife Cilia Flores a case of “vile aggression”. Her brother, leader of Venezuela’s parliament, said they “will not rest” until he is released from a Brooklyn jail cell, where he faces drug-trafficking charges.
But Rodríguez’s US-backed government surprised the opposition by not even raising those demands during the five negotiating sessions, which concluded last week, several people present told the FT.
“Maduro and Flores simply do not exist at the negotiating table,” said one opposition figure. “They have erased them from history.”
The US government has backed Rodríguez, Maduro’s vice-president, since its commandos snatched the autocratic leader in a brazen night-time raid on January 3. In return, she has opened up the country’s vast natural resources to overseas investors, giving US companies access to its oil reserves.
The first round of negotiations with the opposition was intended to agree on steps for a new presidential election but yielded few concrete results.
The two sides focused on how to fund the recovery from June’s devastating earthquakes, demanding the repatriation of some $4bn of gold bullion stored in Bank of England vaults. They also agreed to start working to reform the justice system.
Post too long. Click here to view the full text.