Venezuela's
President Nicolas Maduro (R) shakes hands with Jesus Torrealba (L), secretary
of Venezuela's coalition of opposition parties (MUD), during a political
meeting between government and opposition, in Caracas, Venezuela October 30,
2016. Miraflores Palace/Handout via REUTERS
Government and
opposition leaders in Venezuela agreed on Monday to continue a Vatican-backed
dialogue following initial talks meant to ease an escalating political
standoff
taking place against the backdrop of a worsening economic crisis.
The two sides,
which over the years have repeatedly held talks that generated few concrete
results, will meet again on Nov. 11, according to the opposition Democratic
Unity coalition.
"We are
here to defend the Venezuelan people, to defend the people's right to escape
this crisis through peaceful means," the coalition said after the meeting,
which stretched from late Sunday into dawn on Monday.
The meeting
included an envoy from the Vatican, which helped bring the two sides to the
table, as well as three former heads of state. A papal envoy said the Pope is
closely following the situation and hopes the process will proceed peacefully.
President
Nicolas Maduro's adversaries accuse him of creating a dictatorship by blocking
a recall referendum on his rule and of illegally overriding the legislature,
which was taken over by the opposition in a landslide election last year.
The opposition
insists the government allow a recall referendum on the unpopular Maduro's
rule, release dozens of jailed opposition activists and respect Congressional
decisions.
Maduro, who is
struggling to control shortages of consumer goods and soaring prices in an
unraveling socialist economy, says he is a victim of opposition conspiracies to
overthrow him and of an "economic war" led by businesses with the
backing of Washington.
Coalition
spokesman Jesus Torrealba said early Monday that dialogue cannot continue
without "concrete and immediate action in the coming days with respect to
the release of political prisoners."
Four major
opposition parties have joined the talks. The influential Popular Will party,
led by jailed former mayor Leopoldo Lopez, did not join, insisting the
government had not shown enough respect for human rights.
The two sides
will create four commissions to continue discussing specific issues.
Congress is
currently conducting a largely symbolic trial of Maduro to declare him
politically responsible for the country's crisis and formally declare that he
has violated democratic principles.
The opposition
is also scheduled to march to the presidential palace this week, following
massive demonstrations last week and a national strike on Friday that was only
partially observed even by government critics.
Maduro called
the congressional proceedings a coup attempt, and insisted that decisions
regarding the referendum were made by the country's elections council without
his involvement.
Reuters
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