Venezuela Protests 2014: Uruguayan President José Mujica Offers To Mediate Peace Talks Between Nicolás Maduro And Opposition

Venezuela’s El Universal reports that Uruguayan President José Mujica offered on Wednesday his help in resolving tensions between the government of Nicolás Maduro and opposition protestors who have taken to the streets in a wave of demonstrations this February. “To keep a conflict of this nature from becoming more severe, I’ll go to either side if it’s necessary,” said Mujica, though he added that he would “not interfere” if both sides did not agree to have him mediate. Uruguay had earlier joined Brazil, Argentina and Paraguay, which together with Uruguay and Venezuela make up the Mercosur economic bloc, in offering expressions of support for Maduro’s government -- a stance which has angered many in the opposition.

Mujica’s offer comes after an opposition group asked the Uruguayan president to mediate talks, given his warm relationship with the Venezuelan government and his international good standing. “I have to do my part,” he said in an interview with the weekly Búsqueda on Thursday. “I’m going to do it at the opportune time, talking with the Venezuelans,” he said. His statements came just after Venezuelan Foreign Minister Elías Jaua arrived in Uruguay on Wednesday night as the second leg of a trip to other Mercosur member countries in order to “give first-hand information about the violent events occurring in the country, promoted by the Venezuelan right,” according to a press release from the Venezuelan government.

Jaua’s trip is part of Venezuela’s effort to rally support for the situation regarding violence against protestors in Venezuela to be analyzed not by the Organization of American States (OAS), which includes the United States and Canada, but instead by the Union of South American Nations (Unasur), a Latin American bloc of nations which enjoy warmer relations with Caracas than does Washington. A planned OAS meeting on the topic on Thursday was canceled after the Dominican ambassador who chairs the council did not show up, possibly amid pressure from Venezuelan officials.