The president of Venezuela, Nicolas Maduro, said yesterday, the day of the state and municipal elections, that he will not return to Mexico to a dialogue table with the opposition until the “kidnapping” of an allied businessman who was extradited to USA.
The Maduro government withdrew last month from the talks that had been taking place since August in our country, under the facilitation of Norway, due to the extradition of Alex Saab, a businessman of Colombian origin accused of money laundering by prosecutors in Miami.
Saab, 49, was extradited in October from Cape Verde, where he was arrested in 2020, when his plane stopped for refueling.
“There are no conditions to install it yet (the dialogue in Mexico with the opposition),” Maduro told reporters after voting in yesterday’s regional elections. “Because they have to answer for that kidnapping,” he said. The Venezuelan government objects to Saab’s extradition due to his diplomatic status.
Meanwhile, with little participation, the polling stations of the local and regional elections in Venezuela closed at 6:00 p.m. local time, although the citizens who were at the doors of the voting centers could do so.
At that same time, various government guests, including the Spanish politician Juan Carlos Monedero, began to show their impression of the elections at the headquarters of the National Electoral Council.
Regional elections, rather than electing governors and mayors, can serve as a new starting point for both Maduro, who is seeking the lifting of sanctions, and for the opposition, which returns to the electoral track with its sights set on a “transparent presidential election.” “in 2024.
A man was murdered in Venezuela while queuing to vote in Zulia.
PAL
