Lara state governor Henri Falcon gestures during an interview with Reuters in Barquisimeto

Lara state governor Henri Falcon gestures during an interview with Reuters in Barquisimeto

Lara state governor Henri Falcon gestures during an interview with Reuters in Barquisimeto, Venezuela June 11, 2015. When Falcon abandoned Venezuela’s ruling Socialist Party in 2010 and later joined the opposition, he was pilloried as a “traitor” by former pal and then president Hugo Chavez. Now, it is opposition hardliners who insult him with that same word as Falcon promotes dialog with Chavez’s successor, President Nicolas Maduro, in a bid to ease political hatreds and an economic crisis in the South American OPEC nation. Picture taken June 11, 2015. To match Interview VENEZUELA-POLITICS/FALCON REUTERS/Marco Bello