Nicolas Maduro, President of Venezuela, said he was ready for a 'Dialogue' with the United States which can lead to "A new type of relationship" between the two countries, in an interview published Saturday January 18 evening by the American daily The Washington Post.
"If there is respect between governments, no matter how small the United States, and if there is a dialogue, a truthful exchange of information, then be sure that we can create a new type of relationship ", said the socialist head of state.
He assured that if his American counterpart Donald Trump lifted the sanctions on Caracas, American companies could greatly benefit from Venezuelan oil resources. “A relationship of respect and dialogue leads to a win-win situation. A confrontational relationship results in a lose-lose situation. This is the formula ".
It was Nicolas Maduro’s first interview with mainstream American media since last February, when he abruptly expelled journalists from Univision from Venezuela.
Dismal economic situation
The United States and some fifty countries have recognized the opponent Juan Guaido as the legitimate acting president of Venezuela for the past year. Guaido is calling for a new presidential election, believing that the one that renewed Mr. Maduro in power in 2018 had been marred by fraud. Nicolas Maduro, who succeeded the head of state to Hugo Chavez in 2013, benefits from the support of Russia, China and Cuba.
Discussions between the Maduro and Guaido camps took place, under the aegis of Norwegian mediation, but were interrupted in August. In early January, Washington supported negotiations in Venezuela, saying the talks could establish a transitional government, lead to new elections and end the country's long political crisis.
Political tension is compounded by a severe economic and social crisis, the worst in the country's recent history. On Monday, the Parliament (controlled by the opposition) calculated that the cumulative inflation over one year reached 7,374.4% at the end of 2019, against nearly 1,700,000% in 2018. Rare fact, in October, the Central Bank Venezuela had acknowledged the dismal state of the Venezuelan economy, saying that GDP contracted by 26.8% in the first quarter of 2019.
