VATICAN CITY, May 20 — Pope Francis today prayed for Venezuela to find "a path of peace and unity”, on the day President Nicolas Maduro seeks a new term.

Today’s vote has been condemned by Maduro’s critics as the coronation of a dictator, and the mainstream opposition is boycotting the election. Venezuela is in turmoil as the country faces economic hardships, malnutrition, hunger, hyperinflation and mass emigration.

"I wish to dedicate a special thought to my beloved Venezuela. I ask the Holy Spirit to give all the Venezuelan people, governors and citizens alike, the wisdom to find the way of peace and unity,” the Argentine Pope said at the end of his Sunday address in St. Peter’s Square.

He added that he prayed for those who died in a prison riot in the country yesterday.

Nine prisoners and two guards were killed at a prison in the western Venezuelan state of Lara, the second in a week.

In the past, Vatican representatives in Venezuela have been involved in negotiations between the opposition and the government to free political prisoners but talks stalled. — Reuters