caracas, venezuela<u+2014>the government and the leading opposition alliance said monday they would meet to resolve the country<u+2019>s political crisis, in a surprise announcement that came just a day after opposition lawmakers vowed to remove president nicol<u+00e1>s maduro from power. the development followed a meeting between mr. maduro and pope francis at the vatican, where the venezuelan leader made an unannounced stop as he finished a tour of four oil-producing nations. in a statement, the vatican said the pope received mr. maduro <u+201c>within the framework of the worrisome, political, social and economic situation that the country is going through.<u+201d> <u+201c>the pope thus invited the president to undertake with courage the path of sincere and constructive dialogue, to alleviate the suffering of the people,<u+201d> the statement added. mr. maduro, in a message posted on his official twitter account, called it an <u+201c>excellent private meeting with deep spirituality.<u+201d> a spokesman for mr. maduro and jesus torrealba, head of the democratic unity roundtable, a coalition of opposition parties known as mud, said the talks would begin sunday on margarita island under the mediation of the vatican and the union of south american states, known as unasur. the latest political standoff was sparked by the government<u+2019>s decision thursday to suspend a recall referendum against mr. maduro. on sunday, opposition lawmakers held a special session in the national assembly and said they planned hearings starting tuesday to find a way to oust mr. maduro. that led government officials to warn of a coming coup and socialist party members to storm the congress and disrupt the proceedings, even as mr. maduro<u+2019>s administration and the supreme court have neutralized the assembly by taking away all its powers. the planned talks represent a striking turnaround for the opposition, which had called on supporters to participate in a major national rally on wednesday. some of mr. maduro<u+2019>s opponents had begun requesting mediation from the vatican several weeks ago, mr. torrealba told reporters. he said the talks can<u+2019>t become <u+201c>a strategy to help the government buy time.<u+201d> to some opponents, though, that was exactly what the dialogue seemed set out to do, coming after opposition lawmakers declared themselves in open rebellion against mr. maduro and said they would begin proceeding to remove him from power as of tuesday. indeed, the announcement, which surprised some of the country<u+2019>s top opposition leaders, many of whom apparently weren<u+2019>t included in the talks, risks a split in the antigovernment alliance. <u+201c>yesterday, the entire opposition agreed on a rebellion and the ouster of maduro tomorrow,<u+201d> maria corina machado, an opposition leader, said via her official twitter account. <u+201c>again, another <u+2018>dialogue<u+2019> to save maduro?<u+201d> former presidential candidate henrique capriles and caracas mayor antonio ledezma, two leaders in the opposition, said they found out about the planned talks from watching news reports on television. <u+201c>it<u+2019>s sad to see the referendum die and the government continue to repress,<u+201d> mr. ledezma, who is under house arrest, said via his twitter account. mr. capriles said the opposition will push forward with the impeachment proceedings and wednesday<u+2019>s rally. the country<u+2019>s fourth-biggest opposition party, popular will, meanwhile said monday night that it wouldn<u+2019>t join the talks. on monday, students across the country protested against the suspension of the referendum, burning tires and debris in the streets of some cities. many said they hadn<u+2019>t expected that the opposition would suddenly agree to meet with mr. maduro<u+2019>s government. <u+201c>many here are angry about the news,<u+201d> said miguel david garcia, a student leader at the catholic university of tachira, who took to the streets with his companions in the country<u+2019>s far west earlier on monday. <u+201c>we don<u+2019>t agree with these talks.<u+201d> the opposition alliance has long rejected the government<u+2019>s offers of dialogue, saying mr. maduro relies on negotiations to distract the country from the economy, which is in the midst of a fast meltdown, with many people going hungry for lack of food while hospitals struggle to care for the ill without medicine and medical equipment. other opposition politicians have said there should be no talks while the government jails opponents on what they call trumped up charges, usurps congressional powers and sidelines the referendum. dialogue with the government <u+201c>is not possible after they have suspended the referendum and stole from the people their right of self-expression,<u+201d> leopoldo lopez, the jailed leader of the popular will party, said in a twitter posting sunday night after having met with one of unasur<u+2019>s mediators. <u+2014>kejal vyas in bogot<u+00e1>, colombia, and francis x. rocca at the vatican contributed to this article. write to anatoly kurmanaev at anatoly.kurmanaev@wsj.com
venezuelan government and opposition announce plans to begin talks - wsj
anatoly kurmanaev