As tensions increase in Venezuela, following last week's disputed
election of the late Hugo Chavez's favourite, Nicolas Maduro, (by a
narrow majority), Catholic Church leaders have intervened and offered to
help facilitate peaceful negotiations.More than seven people have been killed and a number have been arrested in violent street clashes.
The Venezuelan Bishops Conference said in a statement: "We call upon the political and social leaders not to use offensive, derogatory and inflammatory language, in order to avoid clashes on the streets that often result in violence and sometimes in the death of people.
"As Christians we are supposed to be on the side of the weak, we must forgive and fight for union to prevail over division, love over hate, peace over violence. "
The Bishops have offered themselves as guarantors to facilitate political dialogue.
On 17 April, opposition leader Henrique Capriles decided to give up a demonstration in Caracas, after the president-elect Nicolas Maduro announced his intention to ban it.
The aim of the demonstration had been to make an official request for a review of the outcome of the presidential election. Capriles told the press: "the only thing we ask is the control over the results of the vote. If the people do not trust the authorities, they may as well say that a coup has taken place," he added.
To download the full document (in Spanish) scroll to the end: http://www.news.va/en/news/americavenezuela-the-church-offers-itself-as-a-gua