Top US diplomat heads to Venezuela to support dialogue

A top US diplomat was headed to Venezuela on Monday to underscore US support for a newly begun political dialogue between the leftist government and the opposition, the State Department said.
Thomas Shannon, the US undersecretary of state for political affairs, will meet with senior government officials, opposition leaders and representatives of civil society during the visit, which will run through Wednesday.
“His visit will underscore our support for the ongoing dialogue process, and our interest in the well-being of the Venezuelan people,” the State Department said.
Venezuelan government and opposition leaders on Sunday opened Vatican-mediated talks, agreeing to an agenda for further discussions aimed at defusing a deepening political impasse in the oil-rich South American nation.
The opposition has staged mass street protests and threatened to march on the presidential palace later this week after Venezuelan electoral authorities blocked a referendum to recall President Nicolas Maduro.
Discontent with Maduro, who succeeded the late Hugo Chavez in 2013, has been running high amid a worsening economic crisis that has led to shortages of food and medicine.