Venezuela FM in UNHRC calls for Trump-Maduro talks to ease crisis

Venezuela's foreign minister Jorge Arreaza on Wednesday called for direct talks between President Nicolas Maduro and his US counterpart Donald Trump, to help ease the crisis gripping his country. "We are proposing the path of dialogue, even with the United States... Why shouldn't they meet, President Trump and President Maduro?" Arreaza said in an address at the United Nations Human Rights Council in Geneva.

"Enough of all this aggression," he added. The US has led a diplomatic campaign in support of opposition leader Juan Guaido who has declared himself interim president and is recognised by about 50 countries.

Maduro has accused the United States of using aid as a political tool aimed at overthrowing him and blames US sanctions for the economic turmoil in his country. Arreaza also renewed an invitation to the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Michelle Bachelet, to visit Venezuela to evaluate the impact of what he described as a US-led "blockade".