As protests continue in Venezuela, the war of words between the government and its opposition rages on, now in The New York Times opinion pages, revealing the depth of the rift between the two sides.

The paper on Tuesday published an op-ed by Venezuela's President Nicolas Maduro calling for "peace and dialogue." A week earlier, one of Venezuela's main opposition leaders, Leopoldo Lopez, wrote his own editorial from prison, also published in the Times, denouncing the country as a "failing state."

The dueling op-eds, of course, each stick to a narrative that ignores the complaints of their opponent. Maduro focuses on a narrative of class warfare that calls for peaceful dialogue, without mentioning that his government has jailed some of the opposition. Lopez criticizes the current government without acknowledging any of its merits. Both call for dialogue, but appear to put forth incompatible rhetoric.

Maduro posits that the state of Venezuela is not as bad as it appears: poverty has been greatly reduced, there's free healthcare and education, and a democracy of which "Venezuelans are proud." He reminds readers that, in 2012, former U.S. President Jimmy Carter proclaimed the nation's electoral system "the best in the world."

Lopez, on the other hand, writes that Venezuela is plagued by an "oppressive political climate," a "crippled economy," and the "government’s criminalization of dissent." He adds, "I am struck by how much Venezuelans have suffered."

The president has his own accusations to levy at the opposition: "The protesters have a single goal: the unconstitutional ouster of the democratically elected government," writes Maduro. He accuses opposition leaders of fomenting chaos in the streets and supporting a takeover like the coup aimed at former President Hugo Chavez in 2002.

Lopez, however, writes that the opposition's demands are not so sinister: they consist of the resignation of those responsible for "repression, abuse and torture," freedom for "political prisoners and dissenters," and "investigation into fraud committed through our commission for currency exchange," which Lopez says is at the root of the crippling inflation rate.

And though Lopez issues a call to action that says Venezuelans "must continue to speak, act and protest," he stresses restraint: "A change in leadership can be accomplished entirely within a constitutional and legal framework."

Image: Fernando Llano/Associated Press

Maduro, for his part, stops short of calling protesters "fascists," as he has in the past, but he writes that they are part of the "wealthier segments of society," painting the conflict as a class war in which the U.S. government is on the wrong side.

"It is on the side of the 1% who wish to drag our country back to when the 99% were shut out of political life and only the few — including American companies — benefited from Venezuela’s oil," he writes.

But the reality in Venezuela seems more complicated than a "rich versus poor" narrative can explain. Lower-income citizens have not joined the protests in large numbers, The New York Times has reported, but that doesn't necessarily mean there is monolithic agreement among the poor. And some from poor neighborhoods across the country have indeed taken to the streets, as The Guardian reports.

Maduro finally calls for "dialogue and diplomacy," stressing that his government has reached out to the opposition by starting mediated talks with it. But he doesn't mention the fact that his government has also used a heavy hand against at least some of the opposition, including sending elected leaders to jail.

Lopez was imprisoned and charged with arson and conspiracy, though he was previously also accused of murder and terrorism, for allegedly inciting the Feb. 12 protests in Caracas, which ended with three people dead — allegedly shot by uniformed officers from the Bolivarian National Intelligence Service (SEBIN). "To this day, no evidence of any kind has been presented," Lopez writes.

Image: uan Manuel Hernandez/Associated Press

Another opposition leader, Maria Corina Machado, has been stripped of her seat in Congress and the government intends to jail her for treason. Two opposition mayors have also been arrested and sentenced to prison.

Maduro and Lopez also differed in their assessment of the violence that has resulted from the protests. Lopez initially wrote that the over 30 fatalities were protesters, a correction at the bottom of his op-ed notes, while the reality is that some police have been killed. Maduro, for his part, said protesters were responsible for causing "about half of the fatalities."

George Cicariello-Maher, a political science assistant professor at Drexel University, and author of We Created Chávez: A People’s History of the Venezuelan Revolution, notes that the opposition has effectively used Twitter to spread its message and narrative — the hashtag #SOSVenezuela, which has been trending at times during the past few weeks, was also widely used in the first few days of the protests to share updates and images.

Maduro's op-ed, therefore, is an attempt at countering the "existing narrative" on Venezuela, and an "attempt to shift public opinion internationally," Cicariello-Maher says.

In its own editorial on March 14, before either Maduro's or Lopez's op-eds were published, The New York Times editorial board suggested the two sides of the Venezuelan crisis are playing a "blame game."

"This is a bitterly divided population in urgent need of mediated dialogue," the Times editorial board wrote. With their leaders each pointing fingers squarely at the other, it's not looking as if common ground will be found any time soon.

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