Caracas, Venezuela – Venezuelan opposition leader Maria Corina Machado has ruled out taking part in negotiations scheduled to begin August 1 with the White House-backed Chavista government.
In a statement co-signed by Machado and Edmundo González Urrutia, who is running as the opposition’s presidential candidate in the 2024 elections after Machado was banned from running by the government, the pair said they would not participate in the “design, development and operation” of the talks.
The exclusion of the two main opposition figures has raised doubts about the deal, which analysts say represents the strongest opportunity for a path to democratic rule in Venezuela in years.
Machando and González said the mechanism was created without their involvement and that “those behind it should inform the country of its goals, methodology and timeline.”
However, he added that he will not interfere with any initiative that produces concrete results, such as releasing political prisoners, returning exiles, and establishing a schedule for future elections. Those who participated in the negotiations were also asked to take responsibility.
Negotiations will include representatives of the government and opposition parties linked to the 2015 Venezuelan National Assembly. The government delegation will be led by Delsi’s younger brother, National Assembly Speaker Jorge Rodriguez. The opposition party includes Dinorah Figuera, who served as speaker of the legislature in 2015.
The talks are part of a U.S.-backed effort to establish a roadmap for Venezuela’s political transition after Nicolás Maduro was ousted from power in January, and are aimed at establishing a framework for political reconciliation, including discussions on institutional reforms, election conditions and guarantees of political participation.
However, there are differences in how the talks are structured.
“The Venezuelan government, according to Jorge Rodriguez, sees the talks as a means to ‘complete democracy’ in the country, and U.S. Secretary of State Rubio has spoken publicly about the political transition outlined in Phase 3 of the three-phase plan he first outlined in January,” said Phil Gunson, senior analyst at the International Crisis Group. Latin America Report.
Gunson said the opposition’s priorities include reforming the National Electoral Council and the Supreme Court as a prelude to holding free and fair elections.
“What is essentially needed is to restore Venezuela’s political rights. The key question is whether these talks can achieve this when so many previous negotiations over the past 25 years have failed,” the analyst said. “The difference, of course, is that this time the U.S. government is in a position to exercise significant control over the outcome.”
Who is Dinorah Figuera?
With Machado and Gonzalez absent, all eyes will be on Dinora Figuera, the White House’s choice to represent the opposition at the talks.
She was elected to Venezuela’s National Assembly in 2010 and again in 2015, a year when the Venezuelan opposition won a two-thirds majority in Venezuela’s main legislative body.
Congress has become the center of the opposition’s challenge to Nicolás Maduro’s government, but its powers have been increasingly weakened since the government-aligned Supreme Court blocked decisions and stripped the chamber of many of its functions.
Figuera eventually went into exile in Spain in 2018 after criticizing the death of an opposition politician while in state custody and saying he feared for his own safety. Abroad, she continued her role in Venezuela’s opposition movement.
After Maduro began a new presidential term in 2019 after a disputed election, Juan Guaidó, who had been president of Congress in 2015, invoked the constitution and declared himself interim president. Many countries recognized then-Guaidó and the 2015 Congress as Venezuela’s legitimate democratic government.
The opposition-controlled parliament was later dissolved, but remains a symbol of Venezuela’s democratic legitimacy for many opposition figures and some international governments, existing in parallel with the official Chavista legislative body.
Figuera was appointed by the opposition party as National Assembly speaker in 2023, replacing Guaidó. But she only returned from exile in June 2026 to meet Jorge Rodriguez ahead of the talks.
What’s next for Machado?
Machado’s decision not to participate reflects a long-standing debate within Venezuela’s opposition party. That is, whether collaboration with existing institutions can create a path toward political change, or whether it risks legitimizing a system they consider undemocratic.
Venezuelan political scientist Orlando Pérez believes the decision not to attend the August talks was a “smart move” from a tactical perspective.
“María Corina Machado and Edmundo González are making it clear that they will not interfere while refusing to own a process they did not design. They want plausible deniability if this process does not work out or is delayed,” he said. Latin America Report.
“The advantage is that by reducing ownership while setting specific benchmarks, Machado maintains the position of calling it a failure if no real results come from the process. They are positioning themselves as auditors rather than participants.”
As for Machado, Perez said he maintains records show this position was never negotiated directly with the government. This is what she was trying to avoid.
But Perez added that departing from the process approved by Washington carries risks.
“Being right about a hollow outcome does not guarantee the means to prevent it, and if the talks proceed without a connection, their absence may seem more irrelevant than principle.
Henry Alviariez, national organizing coordinator for Maria Corina Machado’s Vente Venezuela party, said he believed key institutions such as the National Electoral Council should be reformed, but added that there were other fundamental issues, including ensuring more than 4 million Venezuelans abroad participate in elections and establishing a post-election audit process.
But one issue he said was particularly pressing.
“More importantly, it gives us confidence that there will be an election day in Venezuela so that we know that there will be systemic change.”
Featured image caption: Maria Corina Machado during the Nobel Peace Prize press conference at the Grand Hotel in Oslo.
Featured Image Credit: Kevin Payravi via Wikimedia Commons
