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Weekly Report - 10 April 2014 (WR-14-14)

VENEZUELA: Retreating from the edge of madness

Vice-president Jorge Arreaza confirmed on 9 April a first round of talks with the opposition after another flurry of diplomacy by the Union of South American Nations (Unasur). Due as we went to press, the talks, mediated by three Unasur foreign ministers, will be held in public and televised live. President Nicolás Maduro appears more conciliatory, possibly under pressure from his Unasur visitors. “Tomorrow I will go wherever Unasur tells me. I hope the opposition doesn’t stay behind,” he declared on 8 April. The question now is whether there is seriousness behind his intent. Maduro cannot govern for the next four years (his term is not scheduled to end until late 2018) with hard-line rhetoric and reliance on the state security apparatus.

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