Embattled Venezuela President Nicolas Maduro ‘ready to negotiate’ with US-backed opposition as crisis deepens
- Maduro, who previously rejected calls for negotiations, told Russia’s RIA Novosti news agency that he was open to talks
- Maduro said the talks could be held with mediation of other countries. He mentioned Mexico, Uruguay, Bolivia, the Vatican and Russia
Venezuela’s President Nicolas Maduro said he was prepared to hold negotiations with the US-backed opposition and added he would support early parliamentary elections, RIA Novosti reported on Wednesday.
“I am ready to sit down at the negotiating table with the opposition so that we could talk for the good of Venezuela,” Maduro told the Russian state news agency in an interview in Caracas.
Violent street demonstrations erupted last week after opposition leader Juan Guaido during a major opposition rally in Caracas declared that he had assumed presidential powers under the constitution and planned to hold fresh elections to end Maduro’s “dictatorship.”
On Tuesday, Guaido urged Venezuelans to step outside their homes and workplaces for two hours on Wednesday in the first mass mobilisation since last week’s big protests.
He also called on the European Union to level “more sanctions” against Maduro’s government.
“We need more sanctions from the EU,” Guaido said in an interview with German daily Bild.