caracas<u+2014>venezuela<u+2019>s opposition canceled a protest march to the presidential palace, bowing to what adversaries of embattled president nicol<u+00e1>s maduro said was a call from the vatican to defuse rising tensions in this oil-rich country. the announcement suspending the march was made tuesday just after thomas shannon, the u.s.<u+2019>s undersecretary of state for political affairs, met with both sides to try to find common ground. the vatican is also mediating nascent talks between the government and the opposition , which at the moment have replaced civil disobedience as a course of action for mr. maduro<u+2019>s foes. the march, which had been slated for thursday, was seen here as potentially explosive. opposition forces had been blocked from reaching the miraflores palace since 2002, when a huge march ended in 19 deaths and the brief ouster of mr. maduro<u+2019>s predecessor, hugo ch<u+00e1>vez. <u+201c>we<u+2019>ve sat at the negotiation table in search of a peaceful solution because up until now, with the clashing and confrontation, we have achieved nothing,<u+201d> said henry ramos, an opposition leader and president of the opposition-controlled congress. <u+201c>the people will perceive it as much more responsible.<u+201d> faced with a crippling economic crisis marked by food and medicine shortages, mr. maduro<u+2019>s opponents are pushing for his ouster and an overhaul of the country<u+2019>s state-led economic model. but the leftist leader has taken an increasingly authoritarian stance, jailing opposition activists, blocking congress from passing laws and suspending opposition plans for a recall referendum , even though permitted by the constitution. <u+201c>the government killed it,<u+201d> mr. ramos said of the recall drive, which polls show the opposition would have won. <u+201c>we have to look for alternatives with the dialogue.<u+201d> the opposition<u+2019>s negotiation team is proposing that authorities stage general elections instead of waiting until 2019, when mr. maduro<u+2019>s six-year term ends, said carlos ocariz, a leader in the opposition<u+2019>s justice first party. <u+201c>we<u+2019>re betting that with the mediation of the vatican we can reach real solutions,<u+201d> he said. opposition lawmakers also said they were going to delay proceedings in congress against mr. maduro until<u+00a0>nov. 12, when negotiators will evaluate their progress on pushing for the release of political prisoners and for the restoration of power to the congress. in the proceedings, lawmakers are trying to end mr. maduro<u+2019>s presidency by ruling that he is guilty of dereliction of duty, though it appeared unlikely that the strategy would work in a country where the supreme court has blocked the congress from undertaking any major initiatives. the often-fractious political opposition, though, remains divided over how to unseat mr. maduro, who is disliked by four out of five venezuelans, according to polls. the opposition<u+2019>s fourth-largest party, popular will, whose leader, leopoldo lopez, is serving a nearly 14-year prison sentence on charges rights groups say are trumped up, said it would not participate in the talks without predetermined conditions for restoring constitutional order and democracy. that, the statement said, is only <u+201c>possible by continuing<u+00a0>with the civil and constitutional protests in the streets,<u+201d> referring to antigovernment rallies that have intensified recently. <u+2014>anatoly kurmanaev contributed to this article. write to kejal vyas at kejal.vyas@wsj.com
venezuela opposition cancels protest march to presidential palace  - wsj
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