CARACAS: A delegation from the Norwegian government has come to Venezuela to restart talks between the government of President Nicolas Maduro and the opposition that were halted last week after Maduro’s allies pulled out, according to four sources and opposition leader Juan Guaido.

 Maduro last week said the government would not attend a scheduled round of talks in Barbados to protest the opposition’s support for new US sanctions against his government. The Norwegian delegation arrived on Tuesday to speak separately with the opposition and the government to restart the proceedings, which are meant to resolve the country’s political stalemate, two of the sources said.

 Neither Venezuela’s Information Ministry nor the Norwegian Foreign Ministry responded to requests for comment.

 “There is no new (meeting) planned, but yes, the representatives of the Kingdom of Norway are here in the country,” Guaido told reporters. “The regime in previous years used (dialogue) to stall for time or to generate doubts within the opposition. They will not do so in this case.”

 Guaido in January invoked the constitution to assume a rival interim presidency on the grounds that Maduro’s 2018 re-election was fraudulent, and has promised to end an economic crisis that spurred mass migration.

 Guaido, who has been recognised by more than 50 countries including the United States as Venezuela’s legitimate president, described the new Washington sanctions as “penalties for those who steal and profit from misery.”

 Maduro calls Guaido a Washington-backed puppet who is seeking to overthrow his government.

 The Norway-backed talks began in May following a failed uprising against Maduro but have not yet yielded any official results.

 Separately, the United Nations launched an appeal on Wednesday calling for $223 million of humanitarian aid for 2.6 million Venezuelans until the end of the year as part of a “scale-up strategy” launched last October. — Reuters </s> CARACAS (Reuters) - A delegation from the Norwegian government has come to Venezuela to restart talks between the government of President Nicolas Maduro and the opposition that were halted last week after Maduro’s allies pulled out, four sources familiar with the situation said on Tuesday.

Maduro last week said the government would not attend a scheduled round of talks in Barbados to protest the opposition’s support for new U.S. sanctions against his government.

The Norwegian delegation arrived on Tuesday to speak separately with the opposition and the government to restart the proceedings, which are meant to resolve the country’s political stalemate, two of the sources said.

Neither Venezuela’s Information Ministry nor the Norwegian Foreign Ministry responded to requests for comment.

Opposition leader Juan Guaido in January invoked the constitution to assume a rival interim presidency on the grounds that Maduro’s 2018 re-election was fraudulent and has promised to end an economic crisis that spurred mass migration.

Guaido, who has been recognized by more than 50 countries including the United States as Venezuela’s legitimate president, described the new Washington sanctions as “penalties for those who steal and profit from misery.”

Maduro calls Guaido a Washington-backed puppet who is seeking to overthrow his government.

The Norway-backed talks began in May following a failed uprising against Maduro but have not yet yielded any official results. </s> OSLO: The government of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro and the opposition are continuing talks in Barbados to try to find ways to resolve the Latin American country's political crisis, the Foreign Ministry of mediator Norway said on Friday (Aug 2).

Friday's statement, the first in three weeks, came a day after US President Donald Trump said he was considering a quarantine or blockade of Venezuela and ahead of a summit in Peru on the Venezuelan crisis, which US Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross will attend.

"Τhe representatives of the main political actors in Venezuela are continuing the negotiations. ... Τhe parties have reiterated their willingness to advance in the search for an agreed-upon and constitutional solution," Norway's Foreign Ministry said.

The opposition's main negotiator, Stalin Gonzalez, thanked the government of Norway in a tweet shortly after the ministry's statement, ratifying his party's proposal for a constitutional solution.

Juan Guaido, leader of the opposition-controlled National Assembly, invoked the constitution in January to assume a rival interim presidency after declaring Maduro's 2018 re-election a fraud. Maduro calls Guaido a puppet of the United States and blames Venezuela's severe economic problems on US sanctions meant to force him from office. </s> OSLO/CARACAS Aug 2 (Reuters) - The government of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro and the opposition are continuing to hold talks in Barbados in an effort to find ways to resolve the Latin American country's political crisis, the Foreign Ministry of mediator Norway said on Friday.

Friday's statement, the first in three weeks, came a day after U.S. President Donald Trump said he was considering a quarantine or blockade of Venezuela and ahead of a summit in Peru on the Venezuelan crisis, which U.S. Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross will attend.

"he representatives of the main political actors in Venezuela are continuing the negotiations ... he parties have reiterated their willingness to advance in the search for an agreed upon and constitutional solution," Norway's Foreign Ministry said.

Maduro, who after saying the dialogue was progressing and that he would "meet even with the devil," alleged that the United States is timing new sanctions on Venezuelan officials to coincide with the new rounds of talks.

The Trump administration on Friday slapped sanctions on two security officials for alleged human rights violations.

"Every time there has been a dialogue session, the U.S. government makes bad, perverse decisions like it took this week," Maduro said in a Friday evening state television broadcast. "Illegal, spurious decisions. Stupid decisions about supposed sanctions."

The opposition's main negotiator, Stalin Gonzalez, thanked the government of Norway in a tweet shortly after the ministry's statement, ratifying his party's proposal for a constitutional solution.

Juan Guaido, leader of the opposition-controlled National Assembly, invoked the constitution in January to assume a rival interim presidency after declaring Maduro's 2018 re-election a fraud. Maduro calls Guaido a puppet of the United States and blames Venezuela's severe economic problems on U.S. sanctions meant to force him from office. (Reporting by Lefteris Karagiannopoulos; additional reporting by Sarah Kinosian; editing by Leslie Adler and G Crosse) </s> CARACAS (Reuters) - A delegation from the Norwegian government has come to Venezuela to restart talks between the government of President Nicolas Maduro and the opposition that were halted last week after Maduro’s allies pulled out, according to four sources and opposition leader Juan Guaido.

Venezuelan opposition leader Juan Guaido, who many nations have recognised as the country's rightful interim ruler, talks to the media as he attends a session of Venezuela's National Assembly in Caracas, Venezuela August 13, 2019. REUTERS/Manaure Quintero

Maduro last week said the government would not attend a scheduled round of talks in Barbados to protest the opposition’s support for new U.S. sanctions against his government.

The Norwegian delegation arrived on Tuesday to speak separately with the opposition and the government to restart the proceedings, which are meant to resolve the country’s political stalemate, two of the sources said.

Neither Venezuela’s Information Ministry nor the Norwegian Foreign Ministry responded to requests for comment.

“There is no new (meeting) planned, but yes, the representatives of the Kingdom of Norway are here in the country,” Guaido told reporters. “The regime in previous years used (dialogue) to stall for time or to generate doubts within the opposition. They will not do so in this case.”

Guaido in January invoked the constitution to assume a rival interim presidency on the grounds that Maduro’s 2018 re-election was fraudulent, and has promised to end an economic crisis that spurred mass migration.

Guaido, who has been recognized by more than 50 countries including the United States as Venezuela’s legitimate president, described the new Washington sanctions as “penalties for those who steal and profit from misery.”

Maduro calls Guaido a Washington-backed puppet who is seeking to overthrow his government.

The Norway-backed talks began in May following a failed uprising against Maduro but have not yet yielded any official results.

Separately, the United Nations launched an appeal on Wednesday calling for $223 million of humanitarian aid for 2.6 million Venezuelans until the end of the year as part of a “scale-up strategy” launched last October.

The appeal includes 98 projects that will be implemented by more than 60 U.N. agencies and partners, and covers health, nutrition, water, sanitation and hygiene, education, food security and protection, the United Nations said.

“It seeks to strengthen the capacity of humanitarian organizations and further open the operational space in country, thus laying the foundation to widen the response and reach a larger target population in 2020,” the U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs said.
A Norwegian delegation arrives in Venezuela to restart dialogues to end the presidential crisis.