Venezuela Government Holds Talks with Opposition
English version of TelesurTV.net
The Venezuelan government held talks on Friday with opposition members in order to preserve the peace in the country and promote respect for national sovereignty, the constitution and the welfare of Venezuelan people, the Union of South American Countries UNASUR said on Saturday.
The regional bloc applauded the step taken by both parties and highlighted that only Venezuelans can solve their problems, and without the intervention of external actors.
The government of President Nicolas Maduro was represented by the lawmaker and leader of the ruling PSUV party Elias Jaua, Caracas’ Mayor Jorge Rodriguez and the Foreign Minister Delcy Rodriguez.
The opposition was represented by lawmakers Alfonso Marquina and Timoteo Zambrano, both members of the Democratic Unity Roundtable, or MUD coalition, which currently holds a super majority in the country’s National Assembly of Venezuela.
The talks between both parties were held in the Dominican Republic and were observed by three former presidents: Martin Torrijos from Panama, Leonel Fernandez from the Dominican Republic and Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero from Spain.
Those former leaders visited Venezuela last week to promote dialogue between the government and the opposition.
Venezuela is currently suffering from one of its worst political and economic crises, fueled largely by a right-wing opposition bent on economic sabotage and seeing the government fail, with some members even calling for a coup.
International and local media constantly reports about the economic difficulties the country is facing by displaying shocking images of empty store shelves. However, it has been proved that the shortage in supermarkets has been at the very least exacerbated by opposition-led food hoarding. The government has revealed evidence of hoarding, speculation, and overpricing by private companies, in collusion with the opposition leaders, as part of an “economic war” against the socialist government.
Another example of erroneous reporting by Western media agencies on the causes and impacts of runaway inflation in the country is the elite’s illegal import of foreign currencyin order to circumvent government regulations on the import of goods and U.S. dollars.
More than half of Venezuela’s inflation is being caused by currency manipulation, the country’s central bank said earlier this year.