A student protester wearing a T-Shirt that reads in Spanish "Street with no return" walks between tents set up by students protesting the government of Venezuela's President Nicolas Maduro outside the U.N. headquarters in Caracas, Venezuela
A South American effort to end a standoff in talks between Venezuela's government and opposition appears to have stalled.
The foreign ministers of Colombia, Brazil and Ecuador left Caracas after a two-day visit without convincing opponents of Venezuela's government to return to talks aimed at easing the country's political crisis. In a statement issued on Tuesday, the diplomats urged both sides to reflect on the next steps and decide on the date for another meeting in the near future.
Together with a representative from the Vatican, the mediators said they stand ready to facilitate any future dialogue.
Opposition leaders backed out of the month-old talks last week to protest mass arrests at anti-government protests.
They say they won't return to the negotiating table until the government makes progress on proposals including an amnesty for jailed activists and a non-partisan truth commission to probe at least 42 deaths since anti-government protests began in February.
President Nicolas Maduro on Monday urged the opposition not to walk away from the negotiating table, saying such a disappointing outcome goes against the wishes of millions of Venezuelans and benefits the country's foreign enemies.