Hello and welcome to the intelligence from The Economist. I'm your host, Jason Palmer.

Every weekday, we provide a fresh perspective on the events shaping your world.

Most people have an unfairly rosy view of the island of Madagascar.

Lush though it is, it's a place of grinding poverty and questionable governance.

Thanks to a string of back-to-back droughts, its south is on the cusp of famine.

And Gino Strata was a war surgeon, but he didn't operate on soldiers, rather the victims of wars, from Rwanda to Yemen to Afghanistan.

Our obituaries editor reflects on the life of a man who believed healthcare was a human right.

But first... Today marks the opening of the latest round of negotiations designed to move Venezuela beyond its dictatorial rule.

As the country's economy has nosedived, its politics has been in stasis since a rigged election

in 2018.

A crisis ensued, and by 2019, Juan Guaido, the head of the legislature, argued that

without a fair winner, the Constitution entitled him to be interim president.

Nikolaas Maduro, Nikolaas, he's got with votes. the Constitution entitled him to be interim president.

dozens of countries, including America, recognized him as such, but the incumbent, Nicolas Maduro, has gone nowhere.

Last month, representatives from his regime and from Mr. Guido's opposition

signed a memorandum of understanding, agreeing to work together towards fair elections.

Today we're starting the second step of a process of negotiation that we know is complex,

that surely will have moments very difficult for which all our team has been prepared.

The meeting starting in Mexico today isn't the first time resolution discussions have been held.

It's in fact the fifth since Mr. Maduro took over

from the late Hugo Chavez in 2013. Well, all the previous events have come to nothing, and rather

than seed power, Maduro has consolidated power. Stephen Gibbs is the economist's Venezuela correspondent

...