Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado announced Sunday that she will not participate in U.S.-backed negotiations with the government of President Nicolás Maduro scheduled for August. In a statement co-signed by Edmundo González Urrutia, the opposition’s candidate in the disputed 2024 presidential election, Machado declared that the democratic opposition would “not participate” in the “design, development, and operation” of the talks.
The initiative was unveiled in mid-July by Vice President Delcy Rodríguez and a faction of former opposition lawmakers from the 2015–2020 National Assembly, who presented a work plan aimed at “strengthening democracy” in the country. “It is not our place to explain its scope and decisions,” Machado’s statement read. “Those promoting it must inform the country of its objectives, its method, and its timeline.”
The Biden administration had welcomed the dialogue effort as a significant step toward political reconciliation in Venezuela. However, Machado maintains that González Urrutia won the July 2024 presidential election, rejecting the official results that declared Maduro the victor amid widespread allegations of fraud.
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