Material is used by Venezuelan police forces to repress opposition acts; lot was delivered before the election of Nicolás Maduro, according to “BBC”
Brazil exported 20,000 bottles of pepper spray to Venezuela. The material is generally used by police forces in the event of street demonstrations that need to be contained. The batch arrived in the neighboring country shortly before the election of Nicolás Maduro (United Socialist Party of Venezuela, left), who was re-elected president (in a highly contested process and under accusations of fraud) on July 28, 2024.
Information about the sale of pepper sprays from Brazil to Venezuela was published by , a division of the public media company BBCfrom the United Kingdom. The operation was approved by the Ministry of Defense and the Army.
The data was obtained by BBC with the Ministry of Development, Industry, Commerce and Services. According to the publication, the sale was approved by the Brazilian Ministry of Defense and the Brazilian Army.
“When contacted, the Brazilian government said that the product was exported within current regulations. The Venezuelan government did not comment. The company or companies responsible for the sale were not identified”says the BBC News Brazil.
The Army informed the British company that “I could not disclose the name of the company that sold the product to Venezuela”. Also “there is no information on whether the purchase was made by private companies in Venezuela or by the country’s government”.
The 20,000 bottles exported to Venezuela, according to BBCmade the South American country the largest buyer of the product in 2024. Purchases made by other countries total 9,100 units.
The product was sent from São Paulo to Roraima. From there, it went to Venezuela in two loads in June and July.
As the product is classified as defense material, it must go through a different process than other goods to be exported. In general, authorization from the Brazilian government is required to begin negotiations and ship to other countries.
VENEZUELA
The July protests were violently repressed by the Maduro government. They began before the election, but intensified after the election.
After July 29, 2024, the result was widely questioned by the opposition and other countries. According to the CNE (National Electoral Council), the Chavista had 51.2% of the votes against 44% for the opposition candidate Edmundo González (Democratic Unitary Platform, center-right).
However, opponents claim that the president’s opponent would have obtained . Voting minutes, which are public documents, to make the calculation.
Maduro’s 3rd term is scheduled for this Friday (10 January).
Venezuela lives under an autocracy headed by Nicolás Maduro, 62 years old. There is no freedom of the press. People can be arrested for “political crimes”. Published in May 2021 (PDF – 179 kB) regarding “illegitimate appointment” from the National Electoral Council.
A reported abuses in (PDF – 150 kB), (PDF – 161 kB) and (PDF – 151 kB). from Human Rights Watch in 2023 (PDF – 5 MB) states that 7.1 million Venezuelans have fled the country since 2014.
Maduro denies that the country lives under a dictatorship. He says there are regular elections and the opposition simply cannot win.
The presidential elections on July 28, 2024 are contested by the international community. The main opposition leader, María Corina, in June 2023 to hold public office for 15 years.
The Venezuelan Supreme Court made the decision in January 2024. He claimed “administrative irregularities” that were allegedly committed when she was a deputy, from 2011 to 2014, and for “corruption plot” for supporting Juan Guaidó.
Corina nominated her ally Corina Yoris to run. However, Yoris because of an alleged flaw in the electoral system. Diplomat Edmundo González the role of being the main opposition candidate.
The Carter Center, a respected organization created by the former US president (1924-2024), which runs elections in Venezuela “were not democratic”. Read the statement (in English – PDF – 107 kB).
The results have subsequently been contested by the European Union and by several individual countries, such as the United States, Mexico, Argentina, Costa Rica, Chile, Ecuador, Guatemala, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Dominican Republic and Uruguay.
Brazil has not yet recognized Maduro’s election in 2024, but neither does it make tougher demands like other countries that point to fraud in the process. The president (PT) did not see anything unusual in the country’s election.
Human Rights Watch criticized presidents Lula, Gustavo Petro (Colombia) and Andrés Manuel López Obrador (Mexico) in August 2024. They stated in a letter sent to the 3 that it was necessary for them to reconsider their positions on Venezuela and criticized the leaders’ proposals to resolve the impasse, as a general amnesty. Read the document (PDF – 2 MB).
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