Venezuelan opposition suspends dialogue with Maduro

Last Tuesday at a press conference, the executive secretary of the Venezuelan opposition alliance Mesa de la Unidad Democrática (MUD), Ramon Guillermo Aveledo said that the dialogue initiated last month with the government of Nicolas Maduro is now “stuck” over the lack of results.

“We want the dialogue to produce results, but for a situation that remains as a show, we are not available,” Aveledo said, stressing that the MUD, consisting of about 30 political parties and civil organizations, has shown its readiness to talk, making proposals, but “now sees the process as stuck.”

Aveledo also criticized the Venezuelan government for acting in an “excessive, unjustified manner against a peaceful march like yesterday’s (Monday),” referring to a concentration of college students who tried to move to the Apostolic Nunciature and was broken up by the police with tear gas. “Those are peaceful marches and it makes no sense that they are being repressed on this brutal manner, which results in an overheating of the protests,” he said.

Talks are expected to be resumed on next Thursday, once the facilitating committee of the Union of South American Nations (Unasur for its Spanish acronym) arrives. “There must be corrections (from the government), we are always open, we do not close the door… We have suspended our assistance to the working groups because we are unhappy with the way things are happening,” said Aveledo.

Ramon Guillermo Aveledo during the Press Conference.