BOTH the timing and the presentation were inauspicious. On October 24th Nicolás Maduro, Venezuela’s embattled president, made an unscheduled call on Pope Francis. Meanwhile, in Caracas, a papal envoy announced that the Vatican had agreed to co-sponsor talks between the government and the opposition. The news came just days after the government-controlled electoral authority suspended—and perhaps cancelled—the referendum to oust Mr Maduro that the opposition seeks and the constitution allows. The opposition, which had long sought papal mediation, was at first taken aback when it came.
The talks, which also involve the South American Union (Unasur), were widely written off even before they began, under the aegis of Claudio Maria Celli, an experienced Vatican diplomat, on October 30th. In fact, they offer the only chance of a swift and peaceful return to constitutional rule in Venezuela.
That is urgent. Since replacing the late Hugo Chávez in 2013, Mr Maduro has presided over the dissolution of his country. His state-socialist economic policies, combined with lower oil prices, have produced a savage slump: according to the IMF, by the end...Continue reading
from Americas http://ift.tt/2fz3SJf
via https://ifttt.com/ IFTTT
No comments:
Post a Comment