CARACAS (Reuters) - Mediation talks between Venezuela’s government and opposition have entered an “indefinite recess” after their failure to reach agreement over conditions for a presidential election, Dominican Republic President Danilo Medina said on Wednesday.
“No conflict in the world has been resolved without dialogue,” bemoaned Medina, who had been hosting meetings with delegations from both sides on the Caribbean island.
Venezuela’s ruling socialists have said a vote will be held before the end of April, with incumbent President Nicolas Maduro running for re-election in the OPEC nation despite his unpopularity and a crushing economic crisis.
Opponents say the government is rigging the vote in advance by barring Maduro’s strongest rivals - opposition leaders Leopoldo Lopez and Henrique Capriles - and failing to reform a compliant national election board.
A tentative agreement had been reached for the election to be held on April 22, the Dominican president said, before the talks broke down and the government delegation left on Tuesday night.
Opposition delegation leader Julio Borges blamed the government for intransigence in denying fair conditions for an election. “Nicolas Maduro does not own democracy in Venezuela,” he said, also in Santo Domingo.
There was no immediate reaction from the government.
Reporting by Caracas newsroom; writing by Andrew Cawthorned; editing by G Crosse and Jonathan Oatis