Venezuela’s prelates urge elections amid economic disaster

Venezuela’s prelates urge elections amid economic disaster President Nicolas Maduro

The Catholic bishops of Venezuela have called on the government of President Nicolas Maduro to set a date for elections as the nation continues to sink into economic disaster.

Following a plenary meeting of the hierarchy, the bishops issued a pastoral exhortation, ‘Jesus Christ, the Light and the Way for Venezuela’, in which they state that “the country requires a plan for elections, just as was agreed upon during the round-table discussions [with opposition figures]. “A great darkness covers our country. We are going through dramatic situations: the serious shortage of medicine and food. Never before had we seen our brothers rummaging through garbage in search of food!”

In a plenary meeting reportedly dominated by the unfolding crisis, the bishops discussed numerous aspects to Venezuela’s woes, including the failure of the government to comply with agreements reached during Church-mediated talks last October.