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Venezuelan ex-parliament leader rejects negotiations with Maduro

By Andrew V. Pestano
Henry Ramos Allup, former leader of Venezuela's National Assembly, on Monday said his political party will not re-engage in negotiations with President Nicolas Maduro's regime and instead said protests need to continue to pressure Venezuela's electoral council to establish the date of regional and gubernatorial elections. Photo courtesy of National Assembly
Henry Ramos Allup, former leader of Venezuela's National Assembly, on Monday said his political party will not re-engage in negotiations with President Nicolas Maduro's regime and instead said protests need to continue to pressure Venezuela's electoral council to establish the date of regional and gubernatorial elections. Photo courtesy of National Assembly

Jan. 24 (UPI) -- Henry Ramos Allup, ex-leader of Venezuela's National Assembly legislature, said his political party will not resume negotiations with President Nicolas Maduro's regime.

Allup's comments clash with a proposal by some members in the opposition coalition seeking a diplomatic solution to Venezuela's political crisis.

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The Democratic Unity Roundtable, or MUD, opposition coalition is considering re-engaging in talks with Maduro after receiving a request from Union of South American Nations Secretary-General Ernesto Samper and several former world leaders, such as the former president of Spain, José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero, former president of the Dominican Republic, Leonel Fernández, and former president of Panama, Martín Torrijos.

The Vatican is also engaged in the effort. Aldo Giordano, the apostolic nuncio in Venezuela, also co-signed a document delivered by Samper and the former presidents to Maduro and the opposition coalition.

Allup, one of the most influential opposition political figures in Venezuela, serves as the Democratic Action party's general secretary. On Monday, Allup said he and his party would reject the attempts to facilitate dialogue between both sides.

Allup was replaced by opposition lawmaker Julio Borges earlier this month as the head of the National Assembly.

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In a speech during an opposition rally on Monday, Allup said the Democratic Action party would not co-sign the document because it had too many demands that Maduro's government would never approve -- without offering details on what was proposed.

Allup said protests need to continue to pressure Venezuela's National Electoral Council, or CNE, to establish the date of regional and gubernatorial elections. The CNE in October officially delayed gubernatorial and regional elections, originally set for December, possibly by up to half a year and a whole year, respectively.

"The only way out of the country's current political and economic situation is through street pressure to demand the National Electoral Council's date of regional elections," Allup said.

Venezuela is facing a political and economic crisis in which basic goods such as food and medicine are in short supply, unavailable or unaffordable. The United Nation's Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean predicts Venezuela's gross domestic product will decrease 4 percent in 2017, while the International Monetary Fund estimates inflation will increase 1,600 percent.

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