Venezuelan President Ready for Talks with Opposition Leader Juan Guaido
TEHRAN (Tasnim) - The Venezuelan president Nicolas Maduro has said he is ready for talks with opposition leader and self-declared interim president Juan Guaido.
Mr. Maduro told the Russian state news agency RIA he would discuss the crisis gripping the country with the opposition, with the participation of international mediators.
"I am ready to sit at the negotiation table with the opposition for us to talk for the benefit of Venezuela, for the sake of peace and its future," he said, Sky News reported.
Whether Mr. Guaido is willing to enter talks is another matter.
In an exclusive television interview on Tuesday with Sky's chief correspondent Stuart Ramsay he said meetings with Maduro were pointless as they would make no headway.
Mr. Maduro's government has been trying to increase the pressure on Mr. Guaido with Venezuela's Supreme Court freezing his bank accounts and banning him from leaving the country.
The Maduro regime is under attack both at home and abroad, with protests across the country leaving at least 40 dead and more than 700 detained since 23 January. Meanwhile the US has imposed stiff sanctions on Venezuela's oil industry, its main source of income.
