Venezuela’s President Nicolas Maduro said yesterday he is open to meeting with student protesters and opposition leaders as the death toll from more than two weeks of demonstrations rose. “The country would gain if we met and talked, with respect as always,” Maduro said in a nationwide address after calling on two-time presidential hopeful Henrique Capriles to hold talks. “We are inviting actors, artists, private and public entities, opposition leaders, students, governors, mayors, the Catholic Church and whoever wants to participate.” Maduro spoke after the opposition alliance, which has boycotted two meetings with the president, said it would negotiate only when he shows respect and offers an agenda worked out with mediators. In a message passed on by his wife, opposition leader Leopoldo Lopez wrote that the invitation lacked sincerity considering the government jailed him and seeks to arrest his political coordinator, Carlos Vecchio. Maduro has attempted to defuse […]