The United States authorities are not conducting any secret negotiations with Venezuela. This was announced on Friday at a press briefing acting assistant Secretary of state for Western hemisphere Michael Kozak. The transcript of the briefing circulated by the press service of the state Department.
The Kozak asked "are there any signs that those not-so-secret talks [with Venezuela]," has led to some progress.
"I’m not quite sure what you’re talking about. The US does not conduct any secret negotiations with Venezuela, so I don’t quite understand what this is a reference," responded Kozak.
The situation in Venezuela worsened after the 23 January 2019, the opposition leader Juan Guido, whose appointment to the post of speaker of Parliament two days before it was annulled by the Supreme court, declared himself acting President. The interim head of state recognized by the US, joined the country’s Group Lima (except Mexico), the Organization of American States and most EU countries.
Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro called the incident a coup attempt and announced the severance of diplomatic relations with the United States. It was supported by Russia, Belarus, Iran, China, Cuba, Nicaragua, Syria and Turkey.
Earlier, Reuters, citing its sources reported that representatives of the United socialist party of Venezuela, which is led by Maduro, and supporters of Guido began negotiations on the background of the situation with the spread of the coronavirus. Guido on Tuesday called false reports about negotiations between the authorities and the opposition in Venezuela.
