Venezuela government signs partial agreements’ at Mexico talks

A top Venezuelan official says talks between the government and the opposition to solve the country's long-standing political crisis have led to "partial agreements".

Parliamentary President Jorge Rodriguez, head of the government delegation, told reporters that the two sides were working on agreements on Saturday. Still, officials did not provide detail on the nature of the arrangements.

The opposition hopes to use the talks held in Mexico City to guarantee free and fair regional elections in the fall. At the same time, Nicolas Maduro's government seeks ease of international sanctions against his country.

The talks, negotiated by Norway and hosted by Mexico, endeavour to resolve the mess that marked Maduro's eight-year rule.

Negotiations have a seven-point agenda, including easing of sanctions, political rights and election guarantees — but not the departure of Maduro, accused of opposing false re-elections in 2018.

The government is "very attentive" to all the economic guarantees that "scrapped, blocked, stolen, withdrawn from the people of Venezuela," Rodriguez said, adding that Maduro was seeking a partial, if not total, lifting of sanctions.

This week, the main opposition alliance, led by Juan Guaido, reversed the course as it announced a three-year boycott and participation in the November mayoral and gubernatorial polls.

The head of the opposition delegation Gerardo Blyde stated hope that the discussions "will try to solve the crisis, but the crisis comes from very serious fundamental problems, from a model that failed in Venezuela and which did not recognize the democratic order and the constitutional order".

He stated that it is "a process that begins, that is difficult, complex".

Neither Maduro nor Guaido, who is recognized as president by around 60 countries, should personally attend the closed-door talks scheduled to run until Monday.