Planned Talks Between Venezuelan Opposition, Government Will Not Take Place

The negotiations between the Venezuelan government and the opposition, slated for November 15 in the Dominican Republic, will not take place since the government has not approved the presence of the ministers of foreign affairs of the Latin American countries, opposition lawmaker Luis Florido said Tuesday.

MOSCOW (Sputnik) — On Sunday, Venezuela's opposition Democratic Unity Roundtable (MUD) said the talks with the country's authorities in the Dominican Republic had been suspended since the government had not approved the presence at the negotiations of several Latin American countries' foreign ministers.

"The international negotiating process cannot take place until the Foreign Ministers are invited," opposition lawmaker Luis Florido said as quoted by Efe news agency.

At the same time, Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro said on Monday that planned negotiations will take place.

On Friday, Venezuelan Communications Minister Jorge Rodriguez said the country's government and opposition would resume dialogue on November 15. Several attempts have been made to reconcile both sides, however, no progress has been made so far. In September, the opposition left the dialogue citing government's unwillingness to release imprisoned opposition figures and allow foreign humanitarian aid.

Venezuela has been experiencing a severe political crisis after the country's Supreme Court decided to restrict the power of the legislative body in March. The protests were further fueled by the National Constituent Assembly election, initiated by Maduro with the intention of rewriting the constitution.