GENEVA, Feb 27, 2019 (BSS/AFP) – Venezuela’s foreign minister Jorge Arreaza
on Wednesday called for direct talks between President Nicolas Maduro and his
US counterpart Donald Trump, to help ease the crisis gripping his country.
“We are proposing the path of dialogue, even with the United States… Why
shouldn’t they meet, President Trump and President Maduro?” Arreaza said in
an address at the United Nations Human Rights Council in Geneva.
“Enough of all this aggression,” he added.
The US has led a diplomatic campaign in support of opposition leader Juan
Guaido who has declared himself interim president and is recognised by about
50 countries.
Maduro has accused the United States of using aid as a political tool aimed
at overthrowing him, and blames US sanctions for the economic turmoil in his
country.
Arreaza also renewed an invitation to the UN High Commissioner for Human
Rights, Michelle Bachelet, to visit Venezuela to evaluate the impact of what
he described as a US-led “blockade”.