QUESTION: Venezuela.

MR PATEL: Yeah.

QUESTION: Maduro yesterday said that – in his terms – that negotiations are resuming Wednesday – tomorrow – with the United States. To begin with, can you confirm that there’s dialogue that’s going to take place with Venezuela? Obviously, from his perspective, he’s looking for sanctions relief ahead of the elections. Can you say if that’s something in the cards?

MR PATEL: So I’m just not going to get into the specifics of our diplomatic engagements beyond just saying that in the context of Venezuela – you’ve heard us say this before – we of course welcome dialogue in good faith and we support the Venezuelan people’s desire for competitive and inclusive elections on July 28th, and we are clear-eyed that democratic change will not be easy and certainly requires a serious commitment. We’re going to continue to work with the international community and democratic actors in Venezuela to support the aspirations of the Venezuelan people.

I will also just add that in our viewpoint, it continues to be the case that the full implementation of the Barbados Agreement offers the best path to restore the democracy that Venezuelans deserve, improve economic and humanitarian conditions, as well as address the migration crisis as well.

QUESTION: So you’re saying “welcome dialogue in good faith.” I mean, can you say that – if that’s – is that what you expect to happen with Venezuela?

MR PATEL: That’s like – that’s what our – would be the intent, but I am certainly not going to get ahead of the process.

QUESTION: And, I mean, is this – I mean, in terms of what the Venezuelans – the Venezuelan authorities can expect from this, I mean, is sanctions relief actually in the cards? Is this something that – we’re a month ahead of the election. Is this something that could be in the cards in the coming month?

MR PATEL: Well, I am certainly not going to try and get into the head of Mr. Maduro. I try to stay out of the minds of other world officials. But look, the – you heard me say this, that the full implementation of the Barbados Agreement we think is the best path to restore democracy that Venezuelans deserve. It’s also the best path to improve economic and humanitarian conditions and address the migration crisis, so this is something that we’ll continue to focus on. We will engage in dialogue with a broad range of Venezuelan actors.

QUESTION: And just finally – I mean, you – when you said that there – the broad range, but how does this relate to the democratic opposition in Venezuela? I mean, is there – are they going to be part of this conversation with Maduro?

MR PATEL: So we continue – engaging with the democratic actors in Venezuela continues to be a part of our engagement as well, and as you know, we engage with a broad dialogue and a broad range of voices in Venezuela, and that is going to continue to be the case. We’ll maintain regular and ongoing engagement with the representatives of the democratic opposition and our diplomatic partners as well.