Street protests, students hurling rocks, barricades manned by radical government opponents and rows of armed police are an almost daily spectacle in Venezuela at the moment. So there is a lot riding on talks between president Nicolás Maduro and opposition leader Henrique Capriles, which started in April.
A peaceful solution is badly needed. The protests, which have been going on since early February, have resulted in 40 deaths, and convey an image of unpredictability and uncertainty. This, say analysts, is incomprehensible in a country as rich as Venezuela – with the world’s largest reserves of crude oil, according to the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries.