Ecuador accepts Venezuela's proposal to mediate with US

Ecuadorian Minister of Foreign Affairs Ricardo Patino said that he has accepted Venezuelan President Nicholas Maduro's proposal that he lead mediation efforts between Venezuela and US as a coordinator of a group of facilitators from several Latin American organisations.

He accepted the role "with a lot of pleasure, of course, if this could favour dialogue and reduce tensions, we would gladly do it," Patiño told Spanish news agency Efe on Wednesday.

"We will use all diplomatic tools, levels of communication and dialogue spaces among countries of ALBA (Bolivarian Alliance for the Peoples of Our America), CELAC (Community of Latin American and Caribbean States), UNASUR (Union of South American Nations), to (reach out to) the US," Patino said.

The foreign minister spoke to Efe during his visit to Washington to attend the General Assembly of the Organisation of American States.

Venezuelan Foreign Minister Delcy Rodriguez made a proposal in Washington on Wednesday for Ecuador to head a mediation group to facilitate dialogue with the US, in accordance with a decision taken during an ALBA meeting in Caracas on Tuesday.

The Ecuadorian minister, chosen by Venezuela due to his position as pro tempore president of CELAC, said that he would do his best to promote dialogue and mutual respect between the countries.

"I believe that both countries (Venezuela and US) despite public differences, want and are interested in entering into a dialogue. Perhaps they need a little support, help from brotherly countries, and if we can do it, we would be delighted," Patino said.

He did not want to elaborate how he would encourage the dialogue or if they would urge the US to revoke US President Barack Obama's executive order of last week.

The executive order declared Venezuela a national threat and imposed sanctions on several Venezuelan officials, leading to a severe strain on relations between the two countries.