Exclusive: The State Department will invite Alberto to a roundtable about Venezuela in Mexico
U.S. National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan will be touring Argentina and Brazil on a busy political agenda linked to curbing China's progress on the 5G network and the evolution of the crisis in Venezuela.
In this context, the former Barack Obama official is on a mission to formalize Washington's intention to involve Argentina in the negotiation that will be held in Mexico on the regime of Nicolás Maduro and the opposition, to try to find a way out of the serious crisis that that country is in.
This is a first test for the different stance imposed by the Biden administration negotiating with countries in the region, moving from a intention of a "regime change" pushed by Trump, who directly sought to overthrow Maduro, to a political agreement strategy allowing democratic solutions.
Maduro opens dialogue with opposition and wants the US and Europe as election observers
State Department sources confirmed to LPO that Argentina and the Netherlands will be the two countries invited to this round of talks that will begin on August 13 in Mexico.
"The U.S. considers us to be a positive outlier in the region. We solve our issues within the institutional order; there are no conflicts on the streets, no censorship, no violence, no political prisoners, no outsiders governing and no deaths due to state violence," said an Argentine diplomatic source who will be part of the meetings with Sullivan.
Biden and Sullivan walk to the Oval Office of the White House.
In any case, Foreign Minister Felipe Solá's team clarified that once the invitation arrives, the terms and conditions will be evaluated. "We are here to collaborate," the Foreign Ministry said.
In the view of Casa Rosada, this is the role that Alberto always wanted to have in relation to this conflict and they have been celebrating the shift in the dialogue of the United States and the European Union regarding Venezuela. As LPO published at the time, Alberto wants to be a bridge between Biden and Maduro, and this would be a good opportunity to fulfill that task.
In addition, as revealed exclusively by LPO, the head of state can further raise his influence in the region when he takes over the presidency of CELAC in November.
The adviser for the Western Hemisphere of the White House Security Council, Juan Gonzalez, gave the go-ahead for Argentina to have its seat reserved in the dialogue process and that could generate friction within the sector of the Frente de Todos that seeks to have the President come to the defense of Nicolás Maduro.
One of the objectives of this roundtable is to guarantee the necessary agreements for the regional elections on November 21 to have the needed transparency and unrestricted participation in order to allow a democratic solution to a country that has been in deep crisis for almost a decade.