Guaido Says All Opportunities for Dialogue With Maduro Government Exhausted

ROME (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 04th February, 2019) All opportunities for dialogue with Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro have been exhausted, Venezuelan opposition parliament speaker Juan Guaido, who has proclaimed himself the country's interim president, said on Monday, after declining Mexico and Uruguay's offer to mediate a dialogue with Maduro.

"As for the initiative of Mexico and Uruguay, I must be sincere by telling you that all of Venezuela's democratic forces believe that the opportunities for dialogue with Maduro government have been exhausted ... The [Maduro] regime has rejected any chance to reach a political agreement within the framework of our constitution," Guaido told Italy's Corriere della Sera newspaper.

On January 31, the European Union and a number of Latin American countries decided to set up an international contact group "to create conditions for a political and peaceful process to emerge" in Venezuela.

EU countries were expected to recognize Guaido in a joint statement on Monday, but, according to a diplomatic source in Brussels, Italy blocked the statement.

China, Mexico, Russia, Turkey and Uruguay are among the countries that have voiced their support for Maduro.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said earlier in the day that the European Union was giving an ultimatum to Caracas rather than mediating the Venezuelan crisis, and called for settlement talks that would include all relevant parties.

The Chinese Foreign Ministry said last month that Beijing was against any meddling in Venezuela's internal affairs and supportive of the country's government in its efforts to maintain stability.