Venezuela’s govt., opposition reps meet with ex-world leaders on crisis
Officials from Venezuela’s government and opposition have held separate secret meetings with a group of former world leaders on resolving the political crisis in the country.
The meetings were held in the Dominican Republic and tapped into "a desire for dialogue on both sides," the Union of South American Nations, also known as UNASUR, said in a statement on Saturday.
The opposition is trying to unseat President Nicolas Maduro who won a landslide election victory in December.
The effort has compounded the crisis in Venezuela which is experiencing severe food and medicine shortages as the country's economy is reeling from the collapse in global crude prices.
President Maduro says the shortages in the country are the result of an "economic war" started by Venezuela’s US-backed opposition.
Maduro insists his government is the victim of an "economic war" led by business leaders with the backing of Washington.
The US has been an ideological adversary of Caracas since the presidency of late socialist leader Hugo Chavez.
Venezuelan Foreign Minister Delcy Rodriguez tweeted that the meetings on Saturday were the initiative of President Maduro.
"The Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela informs that it has held the first encounters for a dialogue between the government and the opposition," wrote Rodriguez.
UNASUR said representatives of both sides met to seek a "framework for a national dialogue."
New meetings were proposed to "agree on an agenda that meets the requirements of each party and a method for engaging in national dialogue," the statement said.
The opposition said its representatives told the mediators that any talks with the government would have to include discussion of a recall referendum on Maduro's rule and the release of jailed opposition leaders.
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