Venezuelan Government And Opposition Talks Have Collapsed Over Conditions For A Presidential Election

Venezuela's President Nicolas Maduro speaks during a meeting with ministers in Caracas, Venezuela June 16, 2017. Miraflores Palace/Handout via REUTERS

Reuters: Venezuela government, opposition mediation talks flounder

CARACAS (Reuters) - Mediation talks between Venezuela’s government and opposition have collapsed after their failure to reach agreement over conditions for a presidential election, host Danilo Medina, the president of the Dominican Republic, said on Wednesday.

Venezuela’s ruling socialists have said a vote will be held before the end of April, with incumbent President Nicolas Maduro running for re-election in the oil-rich nation despite his unpopularity and a crushing economic crisis.

The talks’ end fueled expectations that authorities would quickly set a date for a controversial election in which Maduro’s two top political rivals are barred from participating.

The opposition had been lobbying to hold the elections on June 10, Medina said, to give its disparate and often conflicting parties time to hold primaries and settle on one candidate. The government, meanwhile, pushed for the vote to be as soon as March 8.

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WNU Editor: I do not know why the opposition parties in Venezuela are even bothering with these talks. The fix is already in for Maduro to win .... and the opposition itself is too fragmented to come to a consensus on what needs to be done.