Spain's Zapatero in Venezuela for 'Possible Dialogue'

Spain’s former Prime Minister Jose Luis Zapatero is in Caracas to meet with members of the Venezuelan government, according to EFE.

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Zapatero arrived in Venezuela Tuesday to meet with the Maduro administration, as he said he would during a recent trip to Brazil, in order to "see how the situation is (regarding) favorable scenarios of possible dialogues in the immediate future" between the Maduro government and opposition parties. The former official added that he has been dedicated to these dialogues for "the last three years."

Maduro said in his Twitter account on Wednesday: "I once again ratify my absolute and total readiness to open the doors to dialogue with all political sectors of opposition that are willing to coexist in peace."

Zapatero was one of the main negotiators of the internationally-mediated dialogue that took place in the Dominican Republic between the Venezuelan government and its opposition that ended last February with opposition parties walking away from the table just as an agreement had been solidified.

During that last interview, Efe Rodríguez Zapatero linked the intensification of the migratory flow of Venezuelans to several Latin American countries to the economic sanctions imposed by the United States.

"As it always happens with the economic sanctions and financial blockades, … it is not the government that pays, but the citizens, it is the people. This should give rise to a certain reflection" and "consideration," Zapatero told EFE.