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VENEZUELA’S government has confirmed rumours of talks with a jailed opposition leader to end riots that claimed two more lives in Caracas on Wednesday.
The deaths of 17-year-old militant Neomar “Neon” Lander and National Guard Sergeant William Jose Mendoza in the capital brought the death toll to 83, according a tally by regional news network Telesur.
The right-wing opposition Democratic Unity Roundtable (Mud) coalition claimed that Mr Lander was a peaceful protester who was hit by a police tear-gas canister.
But Public Defender Tarek William Saab said Mr Lander had been killed when a homemade bomb that he was preparing to throw went off early.
Venezuelan Foreign Minister Delcy Rodriguez confirmed on Tuesday night that there had been negotiations with Popular Will party leader Leopoldo Lopez, Cuban news agency Prensa Latina reported.
“A dialogue with Leopoldo Lopez has begun and we are going to show it on national television,” Ms Lopez told a meeting at the Fort Tiuna military prison in Caracas that was broadcast on television.
That was despite denials by Mr Lopez’s wife Lilian Tintori, who has lobbied US President Donald Trump, Pope Francis and other world leaders to put pressure on President Nicolas Maduro’s government to release the far-right leader.
Mr Lopez was sentenced to nearly 14 years in jail in 2015 for inciting the last outbreak of “guarimba” regime-change violence in 2014, which left 43 people dead. He was moved to Fort Tiuna last March.
Ms Rodriguez visited Mr Lopez at the prison on Sunday with Spanish ex-prime minister Jose Luis Zapatero, one of three former leaders attempting to mediate between the government and the Mud. They did not say what they discussed with him.
But Caracas Libertador municipality Mayor Jorge Rodriguez said on Monday he “has the evidence” that Mr Lopez is willing to end two months of political violence in its campaign for early presidential elections in return for being moved to house arrest.
He said Mr Lopez was “was very willing during the meeting to propose, even to sign documents, to stop violence,” but that Ms Tintori was obstructing the deal.
Ms Tintori insisted on Monday that her husband was not willing to negotiate his release, but she admitted that the question of house arrest had been discussed.
