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CARACAS, Oct. 16-- The Venezuelan government insisted Monday it would begin a dialogue with the opposition, after regional elections on Sunday which saw the ruling United Socialist Party of Venezuela (PSUV) won 17 out of 23 governorships, with the opposition Democratic Unity Roundtable (MUD) winning five seats. At a press conference, Jorge Rodriguez, PSUV spokesperson and mayor of Caracas, said that it was his "personal opinion that, if we won, dialogue would continue, and if they (the opposition) won, they would go for violence." "I believe the people of Venezuela interpreted it that way as well. That is to say, the Venezuelan people are asking them to join the dialogue. Hopefully, they heard this call," said Rodriguez. He also interpreted the government's win as a vote of faith in the ideology of former President Hugo Chavez. "We know that the greater the participation, the greater the results would be. We have 10 states with a margin of over 15 points," he sustained. However, the MUD has refused to accept the results and called for street protests, stating that opinion polls have shown government support plummet amid rising inflation and crippling food and medicine shortages. | 
