UNION of South American Nations (Unasur) secretary-general Ernesto Samper announced yesterday that the foreign ministers of Brazil, Colombia and Ecuador will join him on a peace quest in Venezuela.

The former Colombian head of state met Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro in the Miraflores presidential palace on Monday.

He made clear that the regional delegation’s task was to support the government’s efforts for peace with restive political opposition.

“Thank God we have Unasur, which allows us to engage in these struggles in a peaceful way,” Mr Maduro declared.

Mr Samper, who served as Colombian president in the 1990s, specified that the job of the delegation would not be to comment on the situation but rather to help preserve peace in the country.

Venezuelan authorities revealed recently that a coup attempt against the democratically elected government had been thwarted.

Mr Maduro said that the coup plot had been hatched in the US and backed by staff at the US embassy in Caracas.

Many significant opposition figures are alleged to have ties to the plot, including opposition Mayor of Caracas Antonio Ledezma, who was arrested in February.

Unasur was involved in efforts to restore peace in Venezuela last year after right-wing opposition supporters engaged in violent protests that claimed 43 lives.

US State Department spokeswoman Marie Harf replied on Tuesday to demands by Caracas that Washington reduce its embassy staff by claiming that Venezuela was underestimating its diplomat numbers in the US.

She said that Venezuela had 43 rather than 17 in the US, adding that the US would respond “after due consideration of their request.”