Venezuela ills focus of secret meetings

An opposition members holds a handwritten message that that reads in Spanish; "Venezuela is hungr" during a protest outside the court offices of the Chacao municipality, in Caracas, Venezuela, Wednesday, May 25, 2016.
An opposition members holds a handwritten message that that reads in Spanish; "Venezuela is hungr" during a protest outside the court offices of the Chacao municipality, in Caracas, Venezuela, Wednesday, May 25, 2016.

CARACAS, Venezuela -- A group of former presidents has held secret meetings in the Dominican Republic with Venezuelan officials and government opponents in a bid to mediate Venezuela's political standoff.

The meetings over two days ended Saturday and took place under the auspices of the Union of South American Nations.

Jesus Torrealba, executive secretary of the opposition alliance, was quick to say that no face-to-face encounter took place, and instead the two sides exchanged messages through the ex-presidents of Spain, the Dominican Republic and Panama.

And almost as soon as the meetings became known, the dispute between the two sides in the standoff flared again.

The Venezuelan government was represented by Foreign Minister Delcy Rodriguez and two top officials in the ruling socialist party. Three lawmakers represented the opposition.

International pressure is growing on President Nicolas Maduro amid the threat of political upheaval in Venezuela and a rapid collapse of that nation's oil-dependent economy. Last week representatives of nations in the Group of Seven joined numerous government leaders in Latin America, the United Nations and the Organization of American States in calling for urgent talks with the opposition.

Venezuela's opposition is pushing for a referendum on whether to recall Maduro as the nation suffers triple-digit inflation and widespread shortages of food and medicine.

Meanwhile, the president blames his opponents and the U.S. for trying to oust him from power through an "economic war."

Underscoring the depth of the economic desperation, 96 metric tons of medicine arrived Saturday by plane from China. The shipment includes fluids and drugs for treating the Zika virus, whose outbreak in Venezuela has been made worse by the health care crisis.

The meetings in the Dominican Republic came a week after former Spanish President Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero announced that with the Union of South American Nations' blessing he would seek to initiate a "national dialogue" in Venezuela. He was joined in the effort by former Presidents Martin Torrijos of Panama and Leonel Fernandez of the Dominican Republic.

Union Secretary General Ernesto Samper also met last week with Pope Francis -- a popular figure in Venezuela who has been praised even by Maduro -- in a bid to encourage the Vatican to play a mediating role.

After criticism that the encounters were held in secret, the opposition said its representatives stressed several "indispensable" demands for any dialogue: allowing the recall referendum to proceed; the release of people it considers political prisoners; solving the economic crisis; and for the government to "respect" the constitution and the opposition-controlled congress.

A Section on 05/29/2016

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