Crisis-hit Venezuela bars ex-presidents from talks with opposition

Venezuela, which has accused a pair of Latin American ex-presidents of trying to spark a coup, on Sunday denied them permission to speak to jailed opposition leader Leopoldo Lopez.

"Regrettably, despite all the effort we made with General Rall and even the Vice President (Jorge Arreaza), we have been denied a chance to visit Leopoldo Lopez," Chilean ex-president Sebastian Pinera said outside the Ramo Verde military prison.

He was joined by Colombian ex-president Andres Pastrana, seeking to help Venezuela -- which is facing economic crisis and political impasses under President Nicolas Maduro, an elected socialist.

The blocked visit came as a "great surprise. I never imagined that they would not let us in," Pastrana said. "This is an act that we do not understand. It is not the act of a democrat."

http://news.yahoo.com/crisis-hit-venezuela-bars-ex-presidents-talks-opposition-004943495.html

What is the Venezuelan government afraid of?