Venezuelan Opposition Will Not Attend Continued Dialogue with Government

The Venezuelan opposition has announced that it will not continue to attend talks with the government in the Dominican Republic Wednesday even after President Nicolas Maduro said his administration will be, “without fail, punctual, and completely available to continue dialogues and talks."

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The right-wing opposition said its pre-conditions have not been met for talks with the government, citing lack of progress on issues from human rights to elections, according to Reuters.

“There won’t be anyone traveling to the Dominican Republic,” the opposition Democratic Unity Roundtable coalition tweeted.

The talks are a continuation of the discussions carried out from Sept. 12-13 in Santo Domingo between the Venezuelan government, led by Caracas Mayor Jorge Rodriguez and National Constituent Assembly President Delcy Rodriguez and the opposition coalition, who were represented by Timoteo Zambrano, Luis Florido, Manuel Rosales, Vicente Diaz, Eudoro Gonzalez, and president of the National Assembly Julio Borges.

At those meetings, both parties agreed to continue to dialogue. They also agreed to create a commission comprised of delegates from Venezuela, Mexico, Chile, Bolivia and Nicaragua to ensure their political agreements are carried forward.

Dominican President Danilo Medina, who is acting as mediator, and Spain’s former president Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero initiated the talks, while 12 other Latin American nations expressed their support for the Santo Domingo dialogues.

Maduro has consistently called for dialogue with the opposition, initiating talks brokered by Pope Francis and Unasur that never developed due to the opposition backing out of agreed upon scheduled meetings in January.