US-backed Venezuela talks to begin without opposition leader Machado

Not participating in the talks, to the chagrin ​of some Venezuela observers, is Nobel Peace Prize winner Maria Corina Machado, the country's most popular opposition figure.

US-backed negotiations between Venezuela's interim government and a faction of the opposition will begin on Saturday (Jul 31), with the country's most prominent opposition leader absent.The talks, aimed at remaking the country's political system ahead of eventual elections, highlight Washington's unprecedented influenc

July 31 - U.S.-backed negotiations between Venezuela's interim government and a faction of the opposition will begin on Saturday, with the country's most prominent opposition leader absent.