Maduro Seeks Papal Help in New Opposition Talks
Venezuela's President Nicolas Maduro on Sunday said he was seeking more Vatican help to try to jump-start political talks with the opposition.
"A meeting with Pope Francis at the Vatican is being worked on. I hope it can be worked out," the embattled president said during his Sunday program on state television.
"I hope that it will take place soon. And that at that gathering we and the delegation on the right... can finish it with a hug," Maduro said. He gave no time frame.
The South American oil-exporting country has been hard hit by low crude prices, with food and medicine shortages sparking riots and looting in recent months.
The center right-dominated coalition has declared Maduro unfit for office due to his handling of the crisis.
But the socialist president has overruled all their efforts to hold a vote on removing him from office over the past year.
He says the crisis is the result of a U.S.-backed capitalist conspiracy.
Vatican-backed talks to get dialogue going among the parties have not made much progress since December.
Critics say Maduro -- who is seeking to maintain the socialist "revolution" launched by his predecessor Hugo Chavez -- has run the economy and country into the ground.
The opposition insists elections are the only way forward.
Municipal and regional elections are due this year, but no date has yet been set.
The next scheduled general election is in late 2018, with Maduro's current term expiring in early 2019.
Recent polls indicate 80 percent of Venezuelans disapprove of him.
The opposition won by a landslide in legislative elections in December 2015.
Inflation in Venezuela is projected to soar to a mind-boggling 1,660 percent this year, according to the International Monetary Fund.
Source: Agence France Presse
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