[BLOOMBERG] President Nicolás Maduro...Commie el presidente para la vida of Venezuela, successor to Hugo Chavez. Nick is his country's attempt at producing a Muammar Qadaffy, except that even though his country's sitting on an enormous puddle of oil, he can't manage to get it out of the ground. Unlike Qadaffy and Hugo Chavez, he's not dead yet...
said negotiations with the opposition to break a five-year political impasse in Venezuela
...a country in Central America that sits on an enormous pool of oil. Formerly the most prospereous country in the region, it became infested with Commies sniffing almost unlimited wealth. It turned out the wealth wasn't unlimited, the economy collapsed under the clownish Hugo Chavez, the murder rate exceeded places like Honduras and El Salvador. A significant proportion of the populace refugeed to Colombia and points south...
"got off to a good start," and that he will also propose direct talks with the U.S.
Maduro said discussing sanctions directly with the U.S. government is a pivotal issue he wants addressed in order to advance negotiations with the country’s opposition, which started in Mexico last week.
"The lifting of sanctions is central to us: it’s either that or nothing," Maduro said, speaking at a presser.
Maduro’s request is not included in the five-point memorandum of understanding signed last week to end years of political stalemate and help the nation to recover economically, which includes respect for political rights and the Constitution, an electoral timetable and guarantees, and an end to both state violence and sanctions.
Maduro said the Mexico talks over the weekend were "successful" so far. But in line with public events in the past, where he has demanded the normalization of diplomatic ties with the U.S., he said his delegation will request "direct" talks with the Joe Biden administration, the same old faces in slightly different places, the same old ideas, the same old graft
...knaves, footpads, and adjustersemployed by the Biden Crime Family. They leave a trail of havoc everywhere they turn their attention, be it the nation's borders, the Keystone XL Pipeline, or epidemics, sometimes on purpose, most times through sheer arrogant ineptitude. They learnt this stuff in college, you know...
at the negotiations mediated by Norway, which will resume Sept. 3-6.
Maduro hopes that such face-to-face talks will allow diplomatic representatives of both countries to return to their posts, and that partial agreements can be reached soon before the process ends, which could take months.
So far the White House has been reluctant to engage with the authoritarian leader.