Maduro urges Venezuela peace meeting to end protests

Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro has called for a peace conference aimed at quelling the recent upsurge of violence in the South American country.

Maduro urged all the country’s top religious and political leaders to attend the peace meeting on Wednesday.

However, the main opposition leader, Henrique Capriles, announced that he would not join the conference.

Capriles said he is tired of what he called the government’s lies and strong repression against protesters.

The president also said he would ask the National Assembly to form a Truth Commission to investigate the protests, which Maduro claims are an attempt to “justify foreign intervention in Venezuela.”

The country with the world’s largest proven oil reserves has witnessed three weeks of anti-government protests that have claimed the lives of 14 people and injured 150 others.

The opposition criticizes Maduro’s administration for the country’s high crime rate and economic hardships, claiming that his policies have led to a shortage of essential goods and high inflation.

This is while Maduro accuses the United States of backing the opposition in trying to launch a coup d’état in the South American country.

The Venezuelan president has also said that US Secretary of State John Kerry’s remarks about the government’s use of “unacceptable” force on protesters had given violent groups a “green light” to continue their brutalities.

Last week, Venezuela expelled three US diplomats, who Maduro said had met with student protest leaders.

In response, Washington announced on Tuesday that three Venezuelan consular officials had been declared personae non grata and given 48 hours to leave the United States.