US-brokered transition talks begin in Venezuela as exiled opposition lawmaker Dinorah Figuera meets chavista leader Jorge Rodríguez

The unexpected mediator

Dinorah Figuera, a medical doctor who spent eight years in exile in Spain, flew back to Caracas on Thursday and immediately became the center of the first public dialogue between Venezuela's ruling party and the opposition since 2023. Her role was orchestrated by the US Department of State, which invited her to negotiate after sidelining more prominent opposition leader María Corina Machado. Figuera, who succeeded Juan Guaidó as head of the opposition's 2015 National Assembly, had been living in Valencia under an arrest warrant issued in January 2023. She said her mission was institutional, not political.

I'm going to Miami to evaluate the next developments. I have many meetings.

A US-brokered agenda

The meeting on Thursday between Figuera and Jorge Rodríguez, brother of acting president Delcy Rodríguez and president of the current National Assembly, produced a joint technical and political commission. The commission is tasked with crafting a roadmap for democratic reconstruction, including rebuilding the Supreme Court and the National Electoral Council (CNE), and ensuring political participation guarantees. The US State Department swiftly endorsed the talks, with spokesperson Tommy Pigott calling them a "first step."

The US understands that this agenda includes key priorities such as rebuilding Venezuela's democratic institutions, strengthening the CNE, re-establishing durable guarantees for political participation, and securing essential civic freedoms for open political discourse.

Machado left out

Conspicuously missing from the negotiations is María Corina Machado, the Nobel Peace Prize laureate who has been the face of Venezuela's opposition and had pushed for a "serious" dialogue with Delcy Rodríguez under the Manifiesto de Panamá signed in May. Figuera confirmed she had not spoken with Machado or other members of the United Democratic Platform, revealing that the US had bypassed the established opposition leadership. The chavista government has chosen to engage with anti-Maduro factions outside Machado's orbit, a move that signals Washington's willingness to fragment the opposition for a manageable transition.

What comes next

Figuera announced she would travel to Miami immediately after the Caracas meeting for further consultations. Meanwhile, follow-up sessions are planned for next week in Caracas, with six opposition deputies from the 2015 assembly (including Ramón López and Marco Aurelio Quiñones) and six government technicians expected to hammer out specifics on judicial and electoral reforms. US chargé d'affaires John Barrett, described as an expert in institutional transitions from his time in Guatemala, will continue to oversee the process. The goal is a slow-motion electoral route, prioritizing the reconstruction of the Supreme Court and CNE before any vote.

The post-Maduro landscape

These talks unfold six months after a US military operation captured Nicolás Maduro on January 3rd, installing Delcy Rodríguez as acting president under American pressure. The Rodríguez government has since granted amnesty to several opposition figures, including Figuera, and repealed many of the Maduro-era legal threats. However, the road to elections remains long, with no date set and deep mistrust between the sides. The surreal image of two presidents of parallel parliaments recognizing each other, albeit with visible tension, captures the extraordinary moment Venezuela now inhabits.