CARACAS, Venezuela — Diplomatic efforts aimed at resolving Venezuela’s crisis accelerated on Thursday as the government and opposition sent envoys to talks in Norway, though the two sides’ mutual mistrust and differences on key issues could prevent any quick solution.
The Norwegian attempt to mediate, confirmed by opposition officials, comes amid tensions that exploded in street violence when the opposition called in vain for a military uprising on April 30.
Details about the closely guarded process, including whether direct talks between envoys from opposing camps were on the agenda, were scarce.
But the initiative coincides with other outreach efforts: Opposition leader Juan Guaidó said in Caracas that he planned to meet a delegation from a mostly European group of nations later Thursday. And Canadian Foreign Minister Chrystia Freeland met in Havana with Cuban Foreign Minister Bruno Rodríguez, who tweeted that Cuba was prepared to contribute to dialogue on Venezuela.
Norway has a long, successful history of foreign mediation: The country hosted peace talks between Israelis and Palestinians in September 1993, and the Philippines government and Maoist rebels in 2011. The government also brokered a 2002 cease-fire between Sri Lankan government and Tamil Tiger rebel negotiators. Seven years ago, negotiators from the Colombian government and left-wing FARC rebels held their first direct talks in a decade in Norway.
The Norwegian Centre for Conflict Resolution has worked behind the scenes to bring the two sides in Venezuela together. In October, the Centre sponsored an initiative to bring a Harvard-trained conflict resolution expert to Caracas to foster dialogue. In recent months, with the support of Norway’s foreign ministry, its representatives made several trips to Caracas.