Venezuela’s opposition has agreed to suspend a national protest and delay a parliamentary trial against President Nicolás Maduro, after the Vatican stepped up its effort to cool the country’s heated political crisis. Thursday’s march had been planned by an increasingly radicalised opposition, angered by Venezuela’s deteriorating economy and the cancellation of a referendum that sought to remove the unpopular president from office. However, the government released jailed dissidents this week and on Tuesday opposition leaders withdrew their vow to go ahead with a march that had raised fears of violence.
The opposition-controlled legislature also called off debate on a motion to censure Mr Maduro for political dereliction for having halted the referendum on his rule, which has stoked concerns the country is lurching towards dictatorship. Henry Ramos Allup, head of the National Assembly, said: “If the Vatican says we must sit down at the dialogue table to resolve conflicts, it must be done. We can’t refuse.” Pope Francis, who met Mr Maduro last week, said on Tuesday: “Dialogue is the only way to solve every conflict. I wholeheartedly support dialogue.”