Venezuela’s opposition leader Guevara calls for “coexistence” with Maduro

CARACAS, Aug 31 (Reuters) – Venezuelan opposition leader Freddy Guevara on Tuesday called on opponents of President Nicolas Maduro to seek “coexistence” with the ruling Socialist Party instead of trying to force a change of government .

Guevara, recently released from prison after being removed from his car by security forces in July, said the opposition should focus on ongoing talks with the government in Mexico as its best option to address the political position of the country.

His comments mark a change in the tone of the Popular Will party, of which Guevara is the leader. The party has been seen for years as the hard line of the opposition and has been a frequent target of arbitrary arrests and intimidation by the government.

“For years, one side has felt strong and believed it could completely destroy or displace the other,” Guevara told reporters. “This dynamic, this vicious circle, must be stopped … We need a process of coexistence.”

He declined to comment on the negotiations that began last month in Mexico City or answer questions about whether he could join the opposition delegation. Read more

The Popular Will party was at the forefront of a 2019 effort to push Maduro out of power through a U.S.-backed plan in which opposition leader Juan Guaido took over the interim presidency after dismissing Maduro’s 2018 re-election as fraudulent.

Maduro has sometimes described the popular will as a terrorist organization.

Guaido, who was elected in 2015 as a legislator for the People’s Will, had promised an “end to usurpation” and a swift transition to democracy, but he could not convince the military to turn against Maduro.

The Socialist Party clung to a series of new US sanctions and a deep economic crisis.

Report by Brian Ellsworth Edited by Mark Heinrich

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