Pope Francis Urges Venezuelan Government, Opposition Not To ‘Get Stuck In Conflict’ In Letter

In a letter read by a Vatican envoy at the beginning of talks between the government of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro and the political opposition on Thursday, Pope Francis urged the two groups not to let the conflicts of the moment bog down a dialogue designed to bring an end to violence in the country. Since protests over impunity and high crime spread to cities across the country in early February, swelling to include a host of protestors’ grievances, over 40 people have died in related violence.

"I assure each of you of my prayers, so that this meeting and the process you are undertaking bear the desired fruits of national reconciliation and peace,” the pontiff wrote in the letter read by the Vatican’s representative in Caracas. “I’m aware of the restlessness and pain felt by so many people,” he said, adding that it would take “patience and courage” to broker peace. "I urge you not to get stuck in the conflict of the moment but open yourselves to one another to become true builders of peace."

The six-hour meeting, which is set to be followed up by another talk on Tuesday, convened Maduro and top Socialist Party lawmakers and cabinet members as well as leaders from a coalition of centrist parties. The most conservative sector of Maduro’s opponents -- including longtime Chavista antagonist María Corina Machado and Leopoldo López, a detained former mayor of a Caracas district who faces 14 years in jail for “criminal incitement” for his role as a protest leader -- have rejected the talks as an attempt by Maduro to pose as a peacemaker.