Venezuela Opposition Bets On Risky Truce With Maduro

CARACAS, Nov 2 (APP - UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 03rd Nov, 2016 ) : Venezuela's opposition began a tense truce Wednesday with President Nicolas Maduro, but supporters accused it of betraying them amid warnings the strategy might backfire.

With Pope Francis's blessing, Maduro and top opposition leaders have agreed to sit down to Vatican-mediated talks starting November 11, seeking an exit from a nasty political crisis and economic melt-down.

But not everyone is on board with the opposition's new strategy -- including 16 dissenting parties in its own coalition, the Democratic Unity Roundtable (MUD), and many of its supporters. Those rifts were plain as the MUD began 10 days of holding its fire, after cancelling plans for a march on the presidential palace and a "political trial" of Maduro in the opposition-majority legislature.

MUD secretary general Jesus Torrealba urged patience from Maduro opponents demanding an unrelenting assault on the man they accuse of driving Venezuela to the brink of collapse. "In a matter of days, the world is going to see who delivers on their promises and who doesn't," he said.

Some opposition supporters weren't sure it was worth the wait. "They are letting up, and they shouldn't. They need to be direct. This needs to end now," said one, 50-year-old Nancy Colina, as she waited in line at a Caracas supermarket -- a regular ritual in shortage-racked Venezuela.