Venezuela rivals make progress on crisis negotiations

SANTO DOMINGO: Venezuelan government and opposition delegates agreed Thursday to a “friendly countries” commission tasked with assisting crisis negot ia t ions, Domin ic an Republ ic President Dani lo Medina said.

Officials had begun exploratory talks a day prior, led by President Medina and former Spanish prime minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero, seeking a way out of Venezuela’s deep economic and political crisis following months of deadly protests.

“We made progress in defining an agenda of Venezue la’s problems. A commission of friendly countries that will serve as a monitoring commission was agreed on, and includes Mexico, Chile, Bolivia and Nicaragua,” the president said in a brief statement to journalists.

Mexico and Chile are critical of President Nicolas Maduro’s government, while Bolivia and Nicaragua are allies. Two other nations are likely to join in next few days, Medina added.

Delegates f rom Maduro’s government and the opposing Democratic Unity Roundtable coalition wil l meet again on September 27 for a “thi rd exploratory meeting” in the Dominican c apit a l Santo Domingo.

International powers accuse President Nicolas Maduro of dismantling democracy by taking over state institutions in a bid to counter opposition pressure for him to quit, as the country suffers an economic crisis that has caused dire shortages of food and medicine. — AFP