Venezuela opposition eases off Maduro ahead of talks

Venezuela’s opposition suspended a “trial” by lawmakers together with a planned mass march against the unpopular President Nicolas Maduro, ahead of talks next week aimed at easing their country’s deep crisis.
The decision adopted by the opposition-led National Assembly to put off its proceedings against Maduro on charges he has been derelict in his constitutional duties was not “capitulation,” speaker Henry Ramos Allup said.
Instead, it showed the opposition’s desire to seek a solution to the crisis through the talks with the government set to begin November 11, he said.
The march on Maduro’s presidential palace that had been planned for Thursday would also be postponed, he added.
Analysts had called the “trial” of Maduro symbolic at best, as the constitution does not allow for such a process against the president.
Maduro himself had dismissed the effort as invalid and an attempt to overthrow his government, vowing to throw participants in jail.
“I welcome… the fact that the opposition has made sensible decisions. I welcome that,” he said on his weekly TV show.
“And I shook hands with (Jesus) ‘Chuo’ Torrealba. I did not like him at all, and now I like him. He’s nice,” Maduro added, referring to the leader of the opposition coalition, the Democratic Unity Roundtable (MUD).
Relieving pressure on Maduro indicates the opposition sees the negotiations as its best option rather than a test of its ability to rally the public to its side.
Maduro has earned the disapproval of more than 75 percent of Venezuelans, surveys show.
Many blame their dire situation on the president — whose current term is set to end in 2019 — and his decision to maintain socialist policies launched by his late predecessor Hugo Chavez, which have exacerbated the effects of the sharp fall in the price of oil, Venezuela’s main resource.
But Venezuelans are more focused these days on lining up for basic goods than turning out in the streets to demand change as they struggle with chronic shortages of food, power and proper health care on top of runaway inflation.
Maduro’s government had made gestures toward the opposition ahead of the negotiations, made possible through mediation by the Vatican and Union of South American Nations.
It released five opposition members from prison on Monday.
The opposition called for the release of more “political prisoners,” but it also showed signs of coming to terms with a decision by the electoral authorities last month to halt its drive for a recall referendum aimed at ousting Maduro.
The leader of the opposition benches in the National Assembly, Julio Borges, said one of the main goals of the upcoming talks is to secure early elections.
“We are giving a vote of confidence in the Vatican. We don’t believe in the government,” he said. “All our energy is being directed so the people can vote.”
Not everyone agreed, however.
Jailed Caracas mayor Antonio Ledezma tweeted that the protest march and putting Maduro on trial were worth much more than his freedom.
Sixteen groups within the MUD that were initially hostile to the talks backed the unanimous decision to halt Maduro’s political “trial.”
“We respect and accept the opinion of the majority of our colleagues,” said Freddy Guevara, a lawmaker with the Popular Will party headed by jailed leader Leopoldo Lopez.
The United States, which has long had thorny relations with Maduro and his late predecessor Hugo Chavez, has also thrown its support behind the talks.
Maduro on Monday met with a senior US diplomat, Thomas Shannon, who had traveled to Venezuela to back the dialogue. The two had a “very positive” conversation about the start of the talks, the Venezuelan president said.
However, some analysts warn that the government may be embracing the talks only as a way to buy time.
“We have very little time to generate trust in the dialogue. The magnitude of the crisis is far-reaching,” political scientist Francisco Coello said.
“Desperation on the street is very high.”