Nicolás Maduro Says Opposition Suspension Of Talks Due To Pressure From ‘Extremist Sectors,’ Won’t Leave Talks

After a coalition of opposition groups announced they would suspend attempts at resolution with the government over a series of important points of contention, Venezuelan president Nicolás Maduro said he hoped they would not walk away from negotiations entirely and blamed “extremist sectors,” including some based in the United States, for putting pressure on the coalition to refuse negotiations with the government. “I’m not going to get up from the dialogue table, from where there’s dialogue and peace is being discussed,” he said on his radio and television program. “I hope no one lets themselves be pressured.”

Maduro cited the initial meeting with opposition leaders held at the presidential palace, which included Maduro’s opponent in last April’s presidential elections, Henrique Capriles, in addition to the Democratic Unity Roundtable (MUD) coalition currently involved in talks. “We sat down there and we transmitted it live on national television,” he said. “They said everything they wanted to say … In what other country in the world does that happen? ... I know the pressures they’ve felt from their families, political pressures from extremist sectors, pressures coming from Miami -- they’re big, including with threats, and the power of money from the extremist lobby of the Tea Party,” he said. “They go around plotting in Washington on how to impose their insanities against Venezuela.” MUD secretary Ramón Guillermo Aveledo and executive director Ramón José Medina had announced earlier in the day that talks between the coalition and the government were “frozen,” with Aveledo saying he was unsure if the coalition would attend a planned extension of talks on Thursday. The coalition says the government has not ceded sufficient ground on a proposed truth commission on violence during protests or amnesty for imprisoned opposition members. It also cites outside factors like a new law which it believes could further strip the opposition of representation and the lack of incorporation of student groups in the talks.