Venezuela's Guaido backs easing U.S. sanctions as incentive for elections

FILE PHOTO: Venezuela's opposition leader Juan Guaido gestures while wearing a face mask with the writing "Vaccines, now!" during a protest to demand that all people get vaccinated against the coronavirus disease (COVID-19), in Caracas, Venezuela April 17, 2021. REUTERS/Leonardo Fernandez Viloria/File Photo

CARACAS (Reuters) -Venezuelan opposition leader Juan Guaido proposed on Tuesday a progressive lifting of U.S. sanctions as an incentive for President Nicolas Maduro to schedule "free and fair" elections with parties opposed to his government.

Guaido, in a video on his Twitter account, proposed a "national agreement" including a timetable for general elections in the South American country involving an opposition coalition, as well as Maduro's ruling Socialist Party.