Monday, Oct. 24, 2016 | 12:29 p.m.
CARACAS, Venezuela — Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro met Monday with Pope Francis on a trip abroad amid growing political tensions in the South American nation, the Vatican confirmed.
The Vatican said the pope wanted to continue offering his help in resolving the problems afflicting Venezuela in hopes of creating greater trust among the parties.
According to a Vatican statement, the pope urged Maduro to courageously take the path of "sincere and constructive dialogue" to alleviate the suffering of the Venezuelan people, above all the poor. He urged Maduro to promote a climate of renewed social cohesion that would allow everyone to look to the future with hope.
Venezuela's Information Minister Ernesto Villegas had earlier confirmed via Twitter that the pair was going to meet, but provided no additional details.
The stop at the Vatican comes amid a tense standoff in Venezuela over the suspension of a recall referendum campaign seeking Maduro's removal and the opposition-controlled congress' declaration that the government had carried out a coup.
The Vatican has been attempting to mediate a resolution to the political crisis and opposition leaders on Monday met with Vatican representatives in Caracas.
Maduro had been in the Middle East on a multi-nation tour seeking to rally support for oil production cuts.
Concern about recent events in Venezuela has been growing in South America, and the presidents of Argentina and Uruguay said Monday they would meet with other members of the Mercosur trade bloc to decide whether Venezuela should stay in the group.
Mercosur membership includes a "democratic clause" that says a country can be sanctioned when it has "broken the democratic order." The member's removal from the bloc must be voted on by all member countries except the one being denounced.
"If you read the declaration by (the Venezuelan) congress, it's more than clear that all the reasons are there to carry out the democratic clause," Argentine President Mauricio Macri told a news conference with Uruguayan President Tabare Vazquez.
Venezuela became a full member of the bloc in 2012 in an effort to link the region's most powerful agricultural and energy markets.
Macri has also pushed to remove Venezuela from the bloc because of the government's jailing of opposition leaders.
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