President of Venezuela Ready for Dialogue with the Opposition

The Venezuelan government is ready to continue negotiations with the opposition to resolve the political crisis. This was announced on Tuesday by the president of the South American Republic, Nicolas Maduro, at a working meeting with the Cabinet of Ministers, which is broadcasted on the air of Venezolana de Televisión.

He welcomed the joint statement of the Government of the Dominican Republic and the former head of the Government of Spain, Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero, in which they invited the executive branch and the opposition of Venezuela to resume the dialogue. As the President noted, “in the next few hours” the head of the capital city of Libertador Jorge Rodriguez will leave for the Dominican Republic, who will speak at the talks on behalf of the government.

“Venezuelan Crisis Escalates with US Sanctions and Threat”

French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian said after a meeting with Venezuelan counterpart that a new round of talks between the representatives of Caracas and the opposition will begin on Wednesday in the Dominican Republic, with the mediation of the president of the island state Danilo Medina and Zapatero. At the same time, the French minister threatened Venezuela with sanctions from the European Union in the event of a failure of the dialogue.

Since the beginning of April in Venezuela, several thousand street protests were held against the actions of the executive branch. The reason for them was the decision of the Supreme Court, expanding the powers of the president and limiting the functions of the parliament, which is controlled by the opposition. Over this time, more than 120 people were killed, while thousands of participants in the demonstrations got injured.