Pope Francis to help Venezuela

Pope Francis met with the Presidential Council of the Episcopal Conference of Venezuela in a private audience yesterday.

The Episcopal Conference asked to speak to the Pope about the ongoing national crisis in Venezuela.

Many Venezuelans struggle to find something to eat, and 11.4 percent of children under 5 in Venezuela suffer from acute malnutrition, according to Caritas Venezuela.

The present situation’s immediate causes can be traced back to March this year when a court ruling decided all powers vested under the legislative body would be transferred to the Supreme Court.

Opposition leaders protested, saying the move would be comparable to a coup.

In early April, after several days of protests, the decision was reversed.

Then a few days later, the Venezuelan government told opposition leader Henrique Capriles Radonski (Capriles), who is the 36th Governor of Miranda, that he is banned from any political work for 15 years.

Capriles replied saying the government was violating protestors’ civil rights. Weeks of deadly, anti-government protests followed.

About seven weeks ago, Venezuela’s president, Nicolás Maduro Moros (Maduro) ordered armed forces into the streets.

Daily protests have been ongoing for over two months.

Over 60 people have been killed during the protests.

At the end of April,  Pope Francis told journalists he would be willing to play a mediation role in Venezuela if “the necessary guarantees” existed.

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