Anti-government demonstrators try to break through a barrier of Bolivarian National Police in an effort to reach the headquarters of the national electoral body, CNE, in Caracas, Venezuela, Wednesday, May 18, 2016. The opposition was blocked from marching to the CNE to demand the government allow it to pursue a recall referendum against Venezuela's President Nicolas Maduro. (AP Photo/Fernando Llano) (The Associated Press)
CARACAS, Venezuela – A planned Venezuela visit by the Vatican's foreign minister has been called off amid mounting tensions between the country's government and the political opposition.
The Vatican embassy in Caracas says in a Thursday statement that the cancellation of Archbishop Paul Gallagher's trip was not decided by the Holy See. That implies Venezuela may have asked that he not come.
Papal spokesman the Rev. Federico Lombardi had stressed in recent days that the purpose of the May 24-29 trip was to participate in the consecration of a Venezuelan bishop recently named the Vatican's ambassador to the Congo.
But the visit took on greater diplomatic weight amid speculation that he could play a role in defusing an increasingly turbulent political crisis as the opposition seeks to oust President Nicolas Maduro.
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