Name: Vladimir Villegas
Job: Journalist and former Chavista politician
Way forward: Stay focused on peace talks
Vladimir Villegas walks a fine political line in Venezuela: He served in a number of government roles during the Chávez administration, including vice foreign minister, and he's a childhood friend of President Nicolás Maduro. However he left politics in 2007 when late President Hugo Chávez moved to amend the constitution to abolish term limits, and has been critical of the government ever since.
Mr. Villegas was involved with the recent failed peace talks, and insists it's too early to write them off as a way to resolve the political crisis. "We can't overlook that this is the first time in 12 years that both sides have come together to negotiate," he says. "It's something very positive."
The task at hand now, he says, is reestablishing conditions so that both parties come back to the table. This includes recognizing that both sides made mistakes in using or encouraging violence, and by publicly demonizing the "other."
"The government needs to address the issues of students and other citizens who have been detained for protesting," Villegas says. "And the opposition needs to denounce and distance itself from its own violent participants."
Since February, 42 people have died in protests here, over 3,000 people have been detained, and more than 170 individuals remain behind bars.
