Venezuela's government and opposition agree to overhaul Supreme Court and recover frozen gold

First round of dialogue concludes

The interim government of President Delcy Rodríguez and the opposition, represented by the 2015 National Assembly, concluded their first round of political dialogue on Wednesday in Caracas, producing a two-page joint communiqué signed by both delegations. The talks, which began on August 6, were held at the Hotel Meliá Caracas and broadcast on state channel Venezolana de Televisión. Government delegation leader Jorge Rodríguez, who also serves as parliament president, and opposition delegation leader Dinorah Figuera, president of the 2015 National Assembly, read the communiqué in two parts and shook hands for photographs. The round consisted of five working sessions with two technical tables and five plenary meetings between the delegations. The document does not mention the chavista 2025 National Assembly, meaning that body has no role in the agreements.

Judicial reform

The central agreement targets the complete renewal of the Supreme Tribunal of Justice (TSJ), which validated Nicolás Maduro's disputed 2024 re-election despite fraud allegations and unpublished official results. The parties agreed to activate a new nomination process for the renewal and designation of all TSJ magistrates, renew and expand the judicial nominations committee, and form a credentials review council to ensure compliance with constitutional and legal requirements. A reform of the Organic Law of the TSJ will also be undertaken. The National Assembly had previously begun a partial renewal in May, when it increased the number of judges from 20 to 32, but this agreement resets that effort. The nominations committee had been reviewing over 500 credentials to fill eight vacant seats and 12 new positions created by the expansion.

The execution schedule of the agreements will begin this month of August with official announcements and concrete actions, under a continuous work mechanism that ensures strict compliance with each commitment.

Frozen assets and earthquake relief

The parties agreed to concentrate efforts on recovering Venezuela's international reserve assets deposited in the Bank of England, currently subject to litigation in London. Venezuela holds 31 tons of gold valued at approximately $1.9 billion, or about €1.7 billion according to a 2023 government estimate, frozen since the UK refused to recognize Maduro's re-election. The interim president had previously written to King Charles III requesting the gold's release. The recovered funds would support victims of the June 24 double earthquake, which has left at least 6,301 dead and 73,356 injured according to the latest official count, including at least 138 Portuguese and Portuguese-descended victims. The parties committed to establishing transparency, traceability, and audit mechanisms for the use of these resources.

Political context

The dialogue occurs seven months after Maduro was overthrown and captured in a US military operation in Caracas in January 2026. Delcy Rodríguez, formerly Maduro's vice president, now leads the country with Washington's backing and has received praise from US President Donald Trump for complying with his administration's demands. The process does not include opposition leader and Nobel Peace Prize laureate María Corina Machado, who is in exile in Panama, nor Edmundo González Urrutia. Machado has stated she will not obstruct the process. The United States expressed satisfaction with the dialogue's start, stating it contributes to the Trump administration's three-phase plan for a transition to democratic elections. The talks follow 18 previous failed dialogue processes between the two sides.

I trust that this process will contribute to building a path toward better democratic coexistence among the various political sectors of the country and that it will translate into concrete benefits for Venezuelans.