Venezuela’s interim government and the political opposition have agreed to work towards reforming the country’s Supreme Court of Justice, in the first concrete outcome of talks promised by interim President Delcy Rodriguez.
The agreement was reached during a second round of discussions held this week and announced on Friday. The two sides appointed a seven-member panel to examine how candidates for the court are selected.
In a joint statement, the government and opposition said they would “continue the analysis and review of legislative instruments needed for the transformation of the judicial system”.
The government delegation was led by National Assembly chief Jorge Rodriguez. The opposition was represented by Dinorah Figuera, who led the bloc that won Venezuela’s last internationally recognised election in 2015.
The parties first met in August, when they agreed to pursue an overhaul of the judicial system and work to recover Venezuelan assets frozen by the Bank of England. A further round of talks is scheduled for next month.
The discussions come as Ms Rodriguez faces pressure to deliver on promises to open up Venezuela’s political system. She promised elections in a speech to the United Nations General Assembly this week, but did not provide a timetable.
US President Donald Trump said on Friday that he had discussed elections with Ms Rodriguez during the past week, without giving further details. The pair also met on the sidelines of the General Assembly, while US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said they had discussed restructuring billions of dollars in Venezuela’s sovereign debt.
Rights groups have said the repressive apparatus associated with former president Nicolas Maduro remains in place despite the interim government’s pledges of change.
