Venezuela opposition leader Machado says she will not take part in US-backed talks

Venezuelan Nobel Peace Prize laureate and opposition leader Maria Corina Machado said on Sunday she will not take part in US-backed talks with the de facto government of Delcy Rodriguez that are scheduled for August.

In a statement co-signed by Edmundo Gonzalez Urrutia, who ran for president in Venezuela’s 2024 elections, Machado said the opposition would “not participate” in the “design, development and operation” of the talks.

In mid-July, Rodriguez’s interim government and a group of former opposition members of parliament from the 2015-2020 term announced a work plan for “strengthening democracy” in the country.

“It is not our place to explain its scope and decisions. Those promoting it must inform the country of its objectives, its method, and its timeline,” reads Machado’s statement, which was shared on social media.

Washington – which ousted former president Nicolas Maduro in a midnight military raid in January – had hailed the initiative as an important step towards political reconciliation in Venezuela

Machado defended Gonzalez Urrutia’s victory in the disputed 2024 presidential elections, in which Maduro was declared the winner amid allegations of fraud.