President Nicolas Maduro pauses while addressing supporters during a rally in Caracas, Venezuela, on Oct. 28. (Carlos Becerra/Bloomberg)

Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro was expected to sit down Sunday with members of the opposition and foreign mediators, a gesture his foes suspect is a time-wasting tactic to ease pressure on the unpopular leader.

Maduro has said he will personally attend a meeting, expected to take place later Sunday in Caracas, while coalition secretary general Jesús Torrealba said he would represent its nearly 30 different political organizations. Also due to attend were a Vatican envoy, representatives of the Unasur regional bloc and three former heads of state from Spain, Panama and the Dominican Republic.

Critics say 17 years of socialist rule have wrecked the oil rich nation’s economy and crushed democracy.

The opposition Democratic Unity coalition has stepped up protests since authorities scuttled its push for a referendum this year on Maduro’s rule, which polls showed he would have lost, triggering a presidential election.

The government has called the efforts to remove Maduro an attempted coup by the U.S.-backed elite.

Torrealba, in a blog, said top of the opposition’s agenda would be resuscitating the plebiscite, freeing political prisoners, helping victims of Venezuela’s “humanitarian crisis,” and demanding respect for the opposition-led legislature.

“There could be important conclusions that enable a scaling-down of the conflict, a return to the electoral route and a distancing of the storm-clouds of violence,” he said.

“There’s no denying: There is skepticism and mistrust.”

Various opposition leaders have distanced themselves from the talks, saying Maduro has become a dictator who is only promoting dialogue to entrench himself.

“Everyone knows that President Nicolas Maduro and his regime normally use dialog as a mechanism to evade constitutional responsibilities and buy time,” 15 coalition parties said in a letter urging Torrealba to use a meeting only to negotiate Maduro’s exit this year.

Venezuelan Foreign Minister Delcy Rodriguez said Maduro, 53, had stayed away from Saturday’s Ibero-American summit in Colombia to prepare for Sunday’s meeting.

Sunday’s planned meeting follows massive opposition marches and a partially successful national strike last week.

The opposition is also planning a march on the Miraflores presidential palace for Thursday, drawing government accusations they want to reprise a short-lived 2002 coup against Maduro’s predecessor, Hugo Chávez. He allowed and won a recall referendum.