The Head of State, Nicolas Maduro, said he received a letter from Pope Francis where the Pope was committed to the dialogue process that the Bolivarian Government has driven with the Venezuelan opposition.
“I thank him for the concepts he has expressed to me in that communication. Pope Francis is committed to the peace dialogues convened by President Nicolas Maduro” he said during his program “Contacto con Maduro” (Contact With Maduro).
Similarly he stressed that the letter was received by the hands of the Secretary General of the Union of South American Nations (UNASUR), Ernesto Samper, with whom he met yesterday in the afternoon.
“We reviewed the initiative for the peace talks that I requested. The Secretary General has ratified his support for a dialogue for democracy, peace and sovereignty of Venezuela”, he said.
Maduro reaffirmed his entire will to keep advancing the process of conversation with the Venezuelan right wing, and stressed that during last Friday and Saturday was held a secret meeting in the Dominican Republic “requested by them (the MUD)”.
“The opposition sent a spokerperson by each political party. By Primero Justicia they sent Carlos Ocariz,; Secondly there was deputy Mr. Timoteo Zambrano, a representative of Un Nuevo Tiempo, the party of Manuel Rosales; on third place attended Deputy Freddy Guevara by the Voluntad Popular, an ultra right-wing, outlaw party, linked to terrorist acts and “guarimbas” (street riots); and in fourth place the Accrón Democratica party appointed Mr. Luis Aquiles Moreno, an envoy of (Henry) Ramos Allup”, informed the President.
Meanwhile, the team sent by the Bolivarian Government was formed by the Mayor of Caracas, Jorge Rodriguez; the Chancellor of the Republic, Delcy Rodríguez; the deputy of the Homeland Bloc, Elias Jaua; and diplomat Roy Chaderton.
Similarly in the dialogue process were involved the former Presidents José Luis Rodriguez Zapatero (Spain), Martin Torrijos (Panama) and Leonel Fernandez (Dominican Republic), in addition to the current Secretary General of UNASUR, Ernesto Samper.
The President said the talks were kept reserved “simply because they (the right wing) requested for it to be that way, and we were in the effort to establish a dialogue”.