U.S., Venezuela talk amid turmoil
CARACAS, Venezuela — A senior U.S. diplomat met with Venezuela’s socialist president Wednesday, apparently hoping to prevent a humanitarian disaster and ease a political crisis in this deeply polarized nation.
Although he is one of the world’s most vociferous critics of the United States, President Nicolas Maduro was all smiles as he posed for photos at the presidential palace with Thomas Shannon, the U.S. undersecretary of state for political affairs.
Maduro gave a less than conciliatory televised address in which he accused U.S. President Barack Obama of trying to interfere in Venezuela’s internal affairs.
“I gave Shannon a message to take back to President Obama. We hope that Obama can rectify the posture he’s taken during eight years of opposing Venezuela’s revolution. Hopefully in these last seven months of his presidency, we can start down the path toward dialogue, with respect for a positive agenda between the two countries. I really hope we can,” Maduro said.
Venezuela is beset by an economic slump that has led to food riots and aggravated political unrest, and U.S. officials have said they want to avoid bloodshed and a humanitarian crisis that might spill across the country’s borders, undermining Obama’s legacy in a region where he made history by reopening relations with Cuba.
The United States has criticized Maduro’s government for jailing critics and blocking the opposition-controlled congress as part of attempts to squelch unrest caused by growing shortages of food and many other key goods as well as triple-digit inflation.
The U.S. also is backing a scheduled Thursday session of the Organization of American States where regional governments will debate a proposed diplomatic intervention aimed at easing tensions in Venezuela — a measure opposed by Maduro.
The opposition is pushing for a recall referendum this year to cut short Maduro’s term and trigger new elections. They say the national electoral council and courts are stacked in the government’s favor and are trying to delay or kill the recall move.
Obama’s administration may be trying to take advantage of the post Cuba-normalization era in which Latin American leaders are more receptive to outreach from Washington. Shannon headed a similar mission last year, with little result. They two countries have not exchanged ambassadors since 2010.