Venezuela president welcomes CARICOM mediation in crisis

Letter to organisation arrived late, with suggested dates missed

Tuesday, 18th July 2017

The embattled president of Venezuela has reached out to CARICOM after the organisation agreed that they would be open to bridging the gap between warring political parties in the country.

Nicolas Maduro has formally written to Prime Minister of Grenada Keith Mitchell, who is also chairman of the Caribbean bloc.

During the recent CARICOM summit, members decided to offer formal support to help bring an end to more than three months of unrest that has left at least 80 protestors dead.

In a letter dated 7 July, President Maduro expressed that he “wholeheartedly welcomes the valuable proposal contained in that communiqué offering the good offices of [CARICOM] to reactivate an agenda of constructive dialogue among the political sectors of [our] country.”

Maduro invited the Prime Minister to a work meeting in Caracas, Venezuela on 11 or 12 July to determine a specific plan of action to resume the national dialogue in Venezuela.

However, the CARICOM Chairman received the letter a day after the scheduled dates.

WIC News understands that new dates are being determined between CARICOM and the government of Venezuela.

The Venezuelan Foreign Minister was in Grenada during the CARICOM Heads of Government Meeting and met with several leaders individually.