Venezuela talks need Machado, ex-Maduro minister says

Former Venezuelan minister Alejandro Fleming said opposition figure Maria Corina Machado should take part in US-backed transition talks due to begin Saturday, even though she is in exile and is not expected to attend.

Fleming, who served under Hugo Chavez and Nicolas Maduro before distancing himself from Maduro in 2016, told AFP that Machado is Venezuela's “most important political leader” and that her participation, or that of a representative she appoints, is crucial.

The talks are aimed at “strengthening democracy” in Venezuela and are set to involve the interim government, in power since Maduro's ouster, and opposition figures approved by Washington. There are widespread hopes that the negotiations will lead to elections to replace interim leader Delcy Rodriguez's government.

Fleming, a former ambassador to the European Union, said the talks differed from earlier attempts because of US oversight, which he described as a guarantee that agreements would be respected.

Machado, a Panama-based Nobel Peace Prize laureate allied with Edmundo Gonzalez Urrutia, was not invited to the upcoming talks. She has said she does not oppose the negotiations and would not attend.

Venezuela's electoral authority declared Maduro the winner of the 2024 election, and the Supreme Court confirmed the result despite opposition accusations of fraud. The opposition said Gonzalez Urrutia had won.

Fleming also voiced approval for Washington's ouster of Maduro in January, rejecting claims that he was defending colonialism and saying he was being realistic.