US Secretary of State John Kerry said on Tuesday that the Obama administration would not involve itself in incipient peace talks between the government of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro and opposition protestors, in what Kerry described as an attempt to prevent Maduro’s government from using US interference as an “excuse” for any possible breakdown in dialogue. "Right now we do support the mediation efforts by third parties aimed at trying to put an end to violence and seeing if we can engage in an honest dialogue to address people's legitimate complaints in Venezuela," Kerry said during a Senate Foreign Relations Committee hearing, according to El Universal.
But he added that President Barack Obama has also expressed concern over what he called “unacceptable” violence against protestors. And as a delegation of South American ambassadors convenes a handful of opposition lawmakers for a preliminary meeting with Maduro’s government – a sort of talk about the possibility of talks – the moment was “a very delicate time for a possibility of negotiation”, said Kerry. The secretary of state’s remarks came in response to badgering from Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.), who has led a campaign for the Obama administration to pass sanctions on Venezuelan officials.
In a letter to Kerry on Monday, Rubio blamed Maduro’s government for “barbaric repression” against protestors and slammed the administration’s response as “half-hearted”. He went on to ask Kerry to provide an assessment on a long list of questions which included the role of Venezuelan military’s in violence against protestors, their degree of loyalty to Maduro and possible cooperation with Cuban intelligence agencies. On Tuesday, Kerry lauded Rubio’s attention to the matter but said he didn’t think there was “any doubt to Venezuela’s people about what our position is” on the protests, noting that he had spoken a few weeks ago with Venezuela’s foreign minister.
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