Venezuelan government withdraws from talks with opposition
The Venezuelan government said on Wednesday night that it has decided not to send an official delegation to Barbados for the next round of dialogue with the Venezuelan opposition, due to the latest sanctions announced by the US government against the country.
The talks were originally scheduled for Thursday and Friday.
“President Nicolas Maduro has decided not to send the Venezuelan delegation to this opportunity due to the severe and brutal aggression perpetrated continuously and insidiously by the Trump administration against Venezuela,” said Jorge Rodriguez, head of the government delegation to the talks, in a statement published Wednesday night.
Thousands of supporters of Maduro took to the streets in capital Caracas on Wednesday to protest fresh moves by the US to tighten sanctions against the ruling authorities.
Carrying the national flag and holding anti-US slogans, demonstrators gathered at the city center to listen to some government officials.
The protest came after US President Donald Trump issued an executive order on Monday to freeze all Venezuelan government’s assets in the US and block transactions with its authorities.
The move, with an aim to choke off the government’s access to capital, especially US dollars, and undermine the ruling of Maduro and his United Socialist Party of Venezuela, escalated tensions between the two countries.