‘Tiny group running amok in Venezuela’
8 March 2014 12:03 AM GMT
Ahead of the meeting, due to take place next week in Chile, Maduro blamed the month-old unrest shaking his oil-rich country on a minority sector of the opposition.
‘It’s a tiny group belonging to the opposition and they have put the rest of the opposition in a dire situation,’ Maduro told CNN in an interview Thursday.
He also called for improved relations between Venezuela and the United States. The two have been without ambassadors in each other’s countries’ since 2010, and Maduro has accused Washington of encouraging the daily street protests.
Maduro’s call for regional dialogue on his country’s unrest came a day after he broke off relations with Panama, following its call for the rival Washington-based Organization of American States (OAS) to convene on the crisis.
Maduro’s government later ordered Panamanian Ambassador Pedro Pereira and three other diplomats working at the mission to leave the country within 48 hours, Panama’s Deputy Foreign Minister Mayra Arosemena told reporters. But Arosemena said that despite Venezuela’s measures against the diplomats, Panama ‘has every intention of maintaining the best relations with Venezuela.’
In Washington, the OAS Permanent Council met late Thursday to discuss a draft resolution calling for dialogue and condemning violence in Venezuela, as well as Panama’s proposal for foreign ministers to hold talks on the crisis.
But no agreement was reached and it was decided to resume the meeting Friday, Panamanian delegate Arturo Ulises Vallarino said.
‘It’s a tiny group belonging to the opposition and they have put the rest of the opposition in a dire situation,’ Maduro told CNN in an interview Thursday.
He also called for improved relations between Venezuela and the United States. The two have been without ambassadors in each other’s countries’ since 2010, and Maduro has accused Washington of encouraging the daily street protests.
Maduro’s call for regional dialogue on his country’s unrest came a day after he broke off relations with Panama, following its call for the rival Washington-based Organization of American States (OAS) to convene on the crisis.
Maduro’s government later ordered Panamanian Ambassador Pedro Pereira and three other diplomats working at the mission to leave the country within 48 hours, Panama’s Deputy Foreign Minister Mayra Arosemena told reporters. But Arosemena said that despite Venezuela’s measures against the diplomats, Panama ‘has every intention of maintaining the best relations with Venezuela.’
In Washington, the OAS Permanent Council met late Thursday to discuss a draft resolution calling for dialogue and condemning violence in Venezuela, as well as Panama’s proposal for foreign ministers to hold talks on the crisis.
But no agreement was reached and it was decided to resume the meeting Friday, Panamanian delegate Arturo Ulises Vallarino said.
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