The Venezuelan government’s attempts to broker some sort of “peace talks” or “mediation” scheme between the remnants of Libya’s Gadhafi regime and the protest movement appears to have been taken very seriously earlier today, with the prices of commodities falling on the belief that it might restore stability to the nation.
But it seems that belief was overly optimistic, as the proposal has been not only rejected by the “National Libyan Council,” a group made up of protest movement leaders, but also by Saif al-Islam al-Gadhafi, the son of the long-standing dictator.
The protesters pointed to the massive death toll in the violent regime crackdowns in defending their opposition to the talks, insisting that the time to talk passed long ago and that only the ouster of the dictator would be acceptable anymore. Saif al-Islam insisted the talks were unnecessary and that the regime are “capable enough to solve our issues” without help.
Early indications were that Gadhafi himself had agreed in princple to the talks, and the Arab League also was open to the idea, though they insisted nothing was agreed to. Venezuela’s President Hugo Chavez is extremely close with Gadhafi and appears to have been keen on saving his rule from the popular revolt.