Venezuelan government, opposition agree to work towards reform of top court

The two sides appointed a committee to review selection of candidates for Supreme Court of Justice.

Venezuela’s interim government has concluded a second round of talks with the political opposition, reaching an agreement to work towards reforming Venezuela’s top court.

The deal was announced on Friday and represents the first tangible step towards judicial reforms promised by interim President Delcy Rodriguez.

Both sides said in a joint statement that they had appointed a seven-member panel to review the system used to select candidates for the court and agreed to “continue the analysis and review of legislative instruments needed for the transformation of the judicial system”.

The government side was led by National Assembly chief Jorge Rodriguez, while the opposition was represented by Dinorah Figuera, who led the opposition bloc that won Venezuela’s last internationally recognised election in 2015.

Venezuela’s interim government, which took power after the US military abducted former President Nicolas Maduro in January, has brought the country into closer alignment with the US but has been slow to deliver on promises to open up the political system.

Critics have compared the arrangement, which has included a deal granting the US control over large parts of Venezuela’s oil reserves, to those previously imposed on oil-rich nations by colonial powers such as Great Britain.

Rights groups say that the repressive apparatus of the Maduro era has also remained in place, despite promises of change from the new government.

Rodriguez promised elections during her speech at the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) this week but offered no firm timeline.

US President Donald Trump and Rodriguez met on the sidelines of UNGA, her first visit to the US since the abduction of her predecessor. US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said that Trump and Rodriguez discussed restructuring billions of dollars in Venezuela’s sovereign debt.

Trump said on Friday that he spoke with Rodriguez about elections in the past week, but offered no further details.

“I did,” Trump told reporters at the White House. “I spoke about elections.”

The government and the opposition held an initial round of talks in August, when they agreed to overhaul the judicial system and win back Venezuelan assets frozen by the Bank of England.

The next round of talks is scheduled next month.