Vatican ready to mediate Venezuela crisis if both sides ask, says Pope

Vatican is ready to mediate the Venezuelan crisis if it receives requests from both sides, Pope Francis said during a news briefing aboard the papal plane flying from the United Arab Emirates to Rome, Italy’s ANSA news agency has reported.

When asked about a letter sent to him by Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, the pontiff admitted not reading it yet.

"We’ll see what can be done," he said, adding that he viewed the Holy See’s mediation as a last resort, when all other means of settling the crisis have proven to be futile.

"The initial condition is that it needs to be both sides that ask for it," the head of the Roman Catholic Church added.

Pope Francis also recalled the mediation efforts by one of his predecessors - Pope John Paul II - which helped to avert a full-fledged conflict between Argentina and Chile.

He added that mediation should be the last in a series of "small steps" toward reconciliation. "Small steps facilitate the dialogue - this is how diplomacy works," he added.

Earlier, it became known that Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro requested the pontiff’s assistance in resolving the civil standoff in his country. Self-proclaimed acting interim president Juan Guaido also expressed hope for the Holy See’s support in an interview to Italian media.

Political crisis in Venezuela
Juan Guaido, Venezuelan opposition leader and parliament speaker, whose appointment to that position had been cancelled by the country’s Supreme Court, declared himself interim president at a rally in the country’s capital of Caracas on January 23. Several countries, including the United States, Lima Group members (excluding Mexico), Australia, Albania, Georgia and Israel, as well as the Organization of American States, recognized him as president. Maduro, in turn, blasted the move as a coup staged by Washington and said he was severing diplomatic ties with the US.

Meanwhile, Spain, France, Germany, the United Kingdom and the Netherlands said that they would recognize Guaido as Venezuela’s interim president unless Maduro called elections by February 3.

In contrast, Russia, Belarus, Bolivia, Iran, Cuba, Nicaragua, El Salvador and Turkey voiced support for Maduro, while China called for resolving all differences peacefully and warned against foreign interference. The United Nations secretary general, in turn, called for dialogue to resolve the crisis.