Press. voanews.com
The European
Union is pressing Venezuela’s government and opposition groups to resume
negotiations toward peacefully resolving the political crisis that has
convulsed the country for nearly two months. In a statement issued Monday, the
EU repeated concerns it had expressed last July seeking "an urgent,
constructive and effective dialogue."
The EU’s current
statement calls for "all Venezuelan political actors and institutions to
work in a constructive manner" and to "avoid violent acts."
Since early April, at least 38 people have died and many more have been injured
in clashes between opponents and backers of President Nicolas Maduro’s
government. The EU statement called for investigating "all incidents of
violence."
Dissatisfied
Venezuelans have taken to the streets to demand that the socialist Maduro
schedule long-delayed elections, release political prisoners and permit the
delivery of humanitarian aid. Their demonstrations, and those of Maduro's
backers, have escalated since the government-friendly Venezuelan Supreme
Court's late-March attempt to strip the National Assembly of its legislative
powers and since Maduro's May 1 call for a new constitution.
The EU has a
direct stake in the conflict, its statement noted, "with more than 600,000
European citizens" living in Venezuela. The EU said it "reiterates
its readiness to cooperate with the Venezuelan authorities" to ensure
their safety.
Protests
continue
On Monday,
responding to a call for a nationwide sit-in, activists again barricaded
streets and highways with lawn chairs, tree limbs and garbage. "I’m here
for the full 12 hours" of the sit-in, which started at 7 a.m., human
resources worker Anelin Rojas, 30, told Reuters news service while perched
cross-legged with a novel in the middle of Caracas’ main highway. "And
I’ll be back every day there’s a protest, for as long as is necessary.
Unfortunately, we are up against a dictatorship."
Opposition
supporters confront riot security forces while rallying against President
Nicolas Maduro in Caracas, Venezuela, May 12, 2017.
Opposition
supporters confront riot security forces while rallying against President
Nicolas Maduro in Caracas, Venezuela, May 12, 2017.
Appeals to
troops
Maduro
repeatedly has accused the United States of leading an attempt to overthrow his
government. He has ordered troops to block opposition marches, using equipment
including tear gas, rubber bullets and water cannons.
On Sunday,
Maduro opponents sought to win over the troops to their way of thinking.
Dozens of women
in black converged on the National Guard’s headquarters in Caracas, in a
Mother’s Day appeal to the country’s armed forces to "listen to your
mothers" and set aside weapons.
"Today,
Venezuelan mothers have come to talk to the soldiers, to the National Guard, at
all the barracks in Venezuela," said former National Assembly lawmaker
Maria Corina Machado, according to Reuters. These women are telling soldiers
"not to obey orders from the dictatorship, from the dictator who has
robbed food and brought blood to his country. Listen to your mothers!"
Separately, the
head of the opposition-led National Assembly also urged security forces toward
conversation, not combat. Maduro "is
pushing you as an institution to ignore the constitutional order of Venezuela
and you have to stop that situation," Julio Borges, the lawmaker, said at
a news conference Sunday. VOA Spanish Service correspondent Alvaro Algarra
contributed to this report from Caracas.