Dutch Royals Visit Roiling Venezuela
Dutch King Willem-Alexander and his wife Maxima were to meet Saturday with President Nicolas Maduro, a visit coinciding with anti-government protests by Venezuela's opposition.
"We welcome them with great affection and appreciation," Maduro told reporters.
The royals have been visiting Dutch Caribbean territories Aruba, Curacao and Saint Martin, taking side trips to Colombia on Friday and Venezuela on Saturday.
Maxima was born in nearby Argentina.
But the visit comes at a tense political time for Venezuela, where protests were planned Saturday against a year-long expansion of powers for Maduro.
The extraordinary powers were approved earlier this week by the legislature, which is controlled by his socialist party.
Ahead of the demonstrations, the government reportedly arrested a key opposition figure, detaining him in the middle of the night.
"We don't know the whereabouts" of Alejandro Silva, tweeted opposition leader Henrique Capriles, who was narrowly defeated by Maduro in presidential elections held in April.
Opposition leaders said they believe that Silva was taken away from the Caracas hotel he had been staying in by military intelligence officials.
Capriles added in his tweet that he "will hold @nicolasmaduro responsible if anything happens" to Silva.
Venezuela's National Assembly on Tuesday handed Maduro wide-ranging special powers to rule by decree.
Maduro requested the special powers last month, citing the need to fight corruption and take on opponents who are waging "economic warfare" against his government.
He said the powers will also help him battle soaring inflation and shortages of basic goods.
A protege of late president and socialist firebrand Hugo Chavez, Maduro two weeks ago launched a crackdown on prices, sending troops into home appliance stores and forcing merchants to slash their prices.
Source: Agence France Presse
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