Maduro confirms meeting with Norwegian team that is sponsoring dialogue with the opposition

Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro confirmed this Wednesday that Vice President of Communications Jorge Rodríguez met with the Norwegian delegation that visited Caracas in the last few days and that is sponsoring a dialogue with the opposition to seek a solution to the crisis the country is going through.

"That issue was reactivated, the issue of the Norwegians, Jorge Rodriguez is talking, he received them here and is coordinating what is left pending with the issue of the Norwegians," Maduro said by surprise in a brief mention during an event on agricultural production. 

During his speech, Maduro asked where Rodriguez was, to which he responded that this very Thursday "he is at the meeting with the issue of the Norwegians". 

Immediately afterwards, the Venezuelan President stated that "this issue, the issue of the Norwegians, was reactivated" and sent his "greetings to that Norwegian delegation that was in Venezuela. "Everything that was discussed there, that will continue, with dialogue, democracy and freedom," he added.

The arrival of the Norwegian delegation was anticipated last Friday by the opposition sector led by Juan Guaidó, who did not refer to the issue again. According to them, the purpose of that visit was to learn about the current situation in Venezuela, although they denied the possibility of resuming negotiations with the government.

Norway was sponsoring a process of negotiations to overcome the Venezuelan crisis from which the opposition withdrew in September 2019, a month and a half after the Maduro Executive did so. The president abandoned the dialogue in August last year after accusing Guaidó of celebrating, promoting and supporting the U.S. government's sanctions against Venezuelan executive officials and companies.

After the dialogues sponsored by Norway broke down, the Venezuelan government began a new process with small opposition parties, with which it assured that it had negotiated the renewal of the electoral body - which was carried out by the Supreme Court instead of the Parliament - so that it could organize the legislative elections of January 6. At the head of all those attempts at dialogue, Maduro has put Rodríguez in the position of Government representative.