The Government of Venezuela and representatives of the opposition have decided this Friday to extend for an additional week the dialogue table set up in Caracas, with the aim of continuing to analyze issues related to freedom of expression and the right to information within the framework of the second cycle of conversations between both delegations.
In a joint statement, the negotiators have positively assessed the lifting of access limitations to various digital portals, a decision that, in their opinion, "strengthens access to information."
"Within the framework of the second cycle of conversations, the delegations of the National Government and the National Assembly 2015 welcome with satisfaction the recent decision of the Executive to lift the restrictions on access to digital portals, a measure that strengthens access to information," the statement reads.
Likewise, the members of the dialogue table have announced that they "will initiate a process of consultation, guarantees, and verification of progress in this matter with the involved actors and the community in general for this second cycle of work."
The conversations bring together the envoys of the interim Government, led by the president of the Parliament, Jorge Rodríguez, and a sector of the opposition led by former deputy Dinorah Figuera. This second phase of the dialogue process, sponsored by the United States, was launched last Thursday and continues the rounds that began in August.
In parallel to these negotiations, the president of the United States, Donald Trump, is scheduled to meet next Tuesday in New York with the interim president of Venezuela, Delcy Rodríguez, during the UN General Assembly, which will be the first direct meeting between both leaders and the highest-level meeting between Washington and Caracas in more than ten years.
The meeting between Trump and Rodríguez will mark the first face-to-face encounter between the leaders of the United States and Venezuela in over a decade, when Barack Obama and Nicolás Maduro had a brief conversation at a summit in Panama in April 2015.