On his last day of a five-day tour of Colombia, Pope Francis called for a peaceful solution to the Venezuela's internal crisis that has left over 120 people dead and garnered a series of unilateral sanctions by the U.S. government, denouncing violence.
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Speaking from the sanctuary house of human rights saint, San Pedro Claver, Pope Francis delivered his most candid words to date about Venezuela. He unequivocally rejected “all kinds of violence in political life and a solution to the grave crisis that is taking place and affects everyone, especially the poorest and disadvantaged of society,” according to the Associated Press.
He also expressed solidarity with Venezuelans who, in light of the turmoil, migrated to Colombia and other countries.
Monsignor Mario Moronta, Bishop of San Cristobal, a city located in western Venezuela, said that statements by Pope Francis will resonate with all Venezuelans and lend "huge support" to those who work in the church to help alleviate the internal crisis.
Speaking to Colombia's Blu Radio, he added that the Pope's intervention "will be very well received by the vast majority of Venezuelans."
Though previous attempts to mediate talks between the government and the opposition by the Pope were abandoned by the opposition, Moronta commented that he hopes the Pope's words “influence the minds of the political leaders of the opposition to seek the best and the most humane solution.”
He concluded that the most important thing in resolving Venezuela's internal affairs is to maintain the “dignity of the people.”