Venezuelan Activists Ask the Vatican to Continue Dialogue with President Maduro

Country: Venezuela
December 15, 2016
News

On December 4, 2016, Venezuelan democracy activists initiated a sit-in at St. Peter’s Square in Rome, Italy, and urged Vatican representatives to support the release of Venezuela’s 108 political prisoners. Lilian Tintori, wife of imprisoned Leopoldo Lopez, her mother-in-law Antonieta Lopez, and Mitzy Capriles, wife of the jailed mayor Antonio Ledezma, were among several demonstrators who chained themselves to the historic plaza to urge the Vatican to continue dialogue with the Venezuelan government to release political prisoners. A Vatican representative responded to their call, and renewed attempts to facilitate negotiations between the opposition and Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro.

 

Many Venezuelans are of Roman Catholic faith, and the Vatican has served as a moderator between Maduro and the opposition. In addition to releasing political prisoners, the goal of the negotiations is to increase the amount of foreign aid for food and medicine entering the country to address the country’s humanitarian crisis. Prior to the demonstration, the dialogue had stalled because the government left the discussion after the opposition held a hearing regarding the drug trafficking convictions for two of Maduro’s nephews in the United States. Lend your voice to imprisoned Venezuelan activists by sharing this solidarity tweet.