I am concerned by reports of excessive use of force in protests, and reports of armed groups using violence. I condemn all acts of violence and call on all sides to show restraint. It is important that the Venezuelan government respects the right to protest peacefully and ensures public security. The Government has called for all sides to take steps to avoid confrontation, reduce tensions and to create the right conditions for genuine dialogue to take place.<\/p>
My right hon. Friend the Member for East Devon (Hugo Swire MP) has written to the Venezuelan government emphasising the importance of respecting peaceful protest and the importance of dialogue to take place between the parties. He has offered the UK's assistance in the reconciliation process and asked to speak to his Venezuelan opposite number. The British Embassy in Caracas urges peaceful dialogue through its contacts with a range of actors in Venezuelan society.<\/p>"} , "answeringMember" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/members/379", "label" : {"_value" : "Biography information for Lord Hague of Richmond"} } , "answeringMemberConstituency" : {"_value" : "Richmond (Yorks)"} , "answeringMemberPrinted" : {"_value" : "Mr William Hague"} , "dateOfAnswer" : {"_value" : "2014-04-10", "_datatype" : "dateTime"} , "isMinisterialCorrection" : {"_value" : "false", "_datatype" : "boolean"} , "questionFirstAnswered" : [{"_value" : "2014-04-10T12:00:00.00Z", "_datatype" : "dateTime"} ]} , "answeringDeptId" : {"_value" : "16"} , "answeringDeptShortName" : {"_value" : "Foreign and Commonwealth Office"} , "answeringDeptSortName" : {"_value" : "Foreign and Commonwealth Office"} , "date" : {"_value" : "2014-04-04", "_datatype" : "dateTime"} , "houseId" : {"_value" : "1"} , "legislature" : [{"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/terms/25259", "prefLabel" : {"_value" : "House of Commons"} } ], "questionText" : "To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what recent representations he has made to his Venezuelan counterpart on exercising restraint in response to protests in that country.", "registeredInterest" : {"_value" : "false", "_datatype" : "boolean"} , "tablingMember" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/members/632", "label" : {"_value" : "Biography information for Mr Douglas Alexander"} } , "tablingMemberConstituency" : {"_value" : "Paisley and Renfrewshire South"} , "tablingMemberPrinted" : [{"_value" : "Mr Douglas Alexander"} ], "uin" : "195311"} ], "itemsPerPage" : 10, "page" : 0, "startIndex" : 1, "totalResults" : 1, "type" : ["http://purl.org/linked-data/api/vocab#ListEndpoint", "http://purl.org/linked-data/api/vocab#Page"]} }