As part of deal, pro-government MPs in Venezuela return to opposition-held legislature
Venezuela’s President Nicolas Maduro says pro-government lawmakers will return to the opposition-controlled congress as part of a deal with the opposition, as more signs of reconciliation emerge in the Latin American country.
Maduro said in a televised speech on Monday that the lawmakers would return to the National Assembly on Tuesday.
“Let’s go to the debate, let’s go to the fight,” Maduro said.
The Venezuelan Supreme Court declared the National Assembly illegitimate in 2017 for swearing in three lawmakers whose elections had been ruled invalid by the court. They had participated in congressional elections in 2016, which the opposition won. With control over the National Assembly, the opposition refused to heed the Supreme Court’s decision on the three lawmakers and swore them in.
In his Monday remarks, Maduro said the assembly was still in contempt of the law.
The delegates with whom the government has reached the deal are not followers of opposition figure Juan Guaido, who has stopped participating in talks with the government.
Guaido pushed the country into political turmoil by rejecting the outcome of the May 2018 presidential election, which Maduro won.
The United States has also backed him, confiscated all Venezuelan state property in America, and has hinted at the use of force to install Guaido.
Meanwhile, countries in the Americas reportedly voted to activate a regional treaty against Caracas at the request of the US on Monday.
The Inter-American Treaty of Reciprocal Assistance, known by its Spanish acronym TIAR, was invoked by the US earlier this month.
Countries in the treaty voted 16 to 1 in favor of activating it on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly, according to Colombian Foreign Minister Carlos Holmes.
The treaty will allow member countries to designate individuals and entities associated with the Venezuelan government and impose sanctions on them.
The US has tapped the treaty as a means to pressure Venezuela, which is opposed to US policies.
Uruguay voted against the activation of the treaty.
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