Maduro calls for dialogue from prison ahead of Venezuelan talks

Deposed Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro has publicly endorsed "all paths of dialogue" in a message posted on social media. This statement precedes the first in-person meeting scheduled for next week between representatives of the interim government and opposition figures, a process supported by Washington. Maduro, 63, and his wife Cilia Flores, 69, were apprehended during a U.S. military operation in January and are currently held in a Brooklyn jail, facing charges of drug and weapons trafficking, accusations they both deny. Following Maduro's capture, then-Vice President Delcy Rodríguez assumed interim leadership, governing under significant pressure from Washington, which is pushing for political dialogue to establish an electoral calendar and future elections in Venezuela. In his Telegram message, Maduro called for a "NATIONAL REBIRTH" based on mutual respect, inclusion, and dialogue to foster peace and coexistence among Venezuelans. He urged for August to be a month of "wonderful achievements, committed solidarity, sincere dialogue and spiritual rebirth for Venezuela." The message also features a daily count of his days of "kidnapping" and comments on national holidays. The dialogue talks, however, will proceed without the participation of prominent opposition leader and Nobel Peace Prize laureate María Corina Machado, who has stated she will not obstruct the process. Initial discussion topics include addressing the "attention" to the double earthquake of June 24, "strengthening democracy," and "political rights and guarantees." The U.S. trial against Maduro and Flores is scheduled to begin on June 1, 2027, as announced by a federal court in New York in late July. Maduro has maintained he was "kidnapped" and declared himself a "prisoner of war" since his first court appearance in January.