Top Pentagon and US State Dept. officials meet with Carlos Vecchio

Carlos Vecchio recognized by the US as the de facto ambassador from Venezuela to the US from the US-supported coup led by Juan Guaido met yesterday with top officials from both the Pentagon and US State Dept. in Washington.

Vecchio claims the talks were quite positive

Vecchio also said the situation "continues to advance". Vecchio may be making a move to directly contact the US military that some in the Venezuelan opposition that are part of the coup attempt have been seeking for some while. The meeting with Pentagon officials in particular suggest that the US may be considering a military intervention to install Guaido as the interim president driving the incumbent Maduro out of power. The US State Dept. has reiterated its position on negotiations with Maduro saying there can be no talks with him. The US position is that they support Guaido, have demanded that Guaido take over the presidency, and this should happen.

A recent article describes the US position: "The United States for now has ruled out holding any negotiations with Nicolás Maduro and instead is focused on how to orchestrate a “dignified exit” for the Venezuelan leader after an opposition uprising and a series of sanctions failed to oust him from power.“We have been very clear that negotiations with Maduro are not possible,” a senior State Department official told the Miami Herald."

Norway peace talks

In spite of the US saying there will be no negotiations Norway is sponsoring exploratory peace talks with representatives from both the Maduro government and the opposition. Maduro said the talks sought to build a peaceful agenda for the country. Norway has a history of trying to mediate conflict resolution.

Opposition legislator Stalin Gonzalez and two advisers represented Guaido's side, while Information Minister Jorge Rodriguez and Miranda State Governor Hector Rodriguez went to Oslo on behalf of the government.

Each side met separately with Norwegian mediators but there was no direct meeting between the two opposing representatives.

Guaido was less optimistic about the meeting than Maduro. Guaido insisted that any "mediation initiative" should start from the end of the usurpation, that is Maduro should resign. This attitude is likely to ensure the failure of the peace initiative. The opposition may have gone just to pretend they are willing to consider a negotiated solution. However, this could only be a surrender by Maduro.

Guaido appears to be growing more open to a US military intervention as other attempts haves so far failed and the Venezuelan military on the whole continues to support Maduro.

Previously published in the Digital Journal