Before suspending billionaire debt negotiations with Brazil, Venezuela’s dictatorship suggested to the Brazilian government to pay debts of more than $ 1.7 billion ($ 9.8 billion) with “profits” obtained by new Brazilian investments in the country.
In parallel, the Chavista dictatorship expressed the desire to participate in the activities of BRICS, a group in which it tried to be part, but was barred last year by the political objection of Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva’s government.
Four days from the leader’s summit in Rio, dictator Nicolás Maduro was left out of Lula’s special guest list. The event is the main thing about the BRICS calendar this year, but the country continues in charge until December, when the bloc presidency to India passes.
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Venezuela’s will was communicated to the BRICS General Coordination. But Estadão/Broadcast learned that the Lula government never considered inviting mature or members of its team. Interlocutors say that if he did, Lula would go through a “humiliation” after what happened in the past election, when the Chavista dictatorship openly defrauded the election.
As president of BRICS until December, Brazil has the power to suggest an agenda to the bloc and extend invitations to allied countries of the region itself or relevant nations of the global south – these meetings are often called BRICS+ and BRICS Outreach. For the summit, the government invited Mexico, Uruguay, Colombia, Chile, Angola and Türkiye, as well as two others not revealed by Itamaraty.
A telegram obtained by Estadão reveals that Venezuela made diplomatic suggestions and kept alive the desire to participate in BRICS during the Brazilian presidency of the group. The offensive occurred despite Brazil’s veto against Maduro in 2024. The argument was that only countries with friendly political relations with all members would be accepted.
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At the previous summit in Kazan, Venezuela was so sure it would be admitted as “Brics Partner”, a new category of association created at the time, which Maduro traveled to Russia by surprise. However, he left frustrated and furiously there with the Lula government and Itamaraty, whom he accused of “sticking back to him.” The block has further deteriorated the relationships between the ancient left -wing allies.
The veto was motivated by the fact that Brazil did not recognize the alleged and not proven reelection of Maduro in the presidential election marked by fraud of chavismo and restrictions and persecution of opposition in July last year. Lula had spent political prestige to try to rehabilitate Chavista and mediate the realization of transparent and free elections. But he was fooled and ignored by the dictatorship, after months charging the disclosure of documents attesting to Maduro’s alleged victory.
Lula, in turn, stopped answering Maduro calls and determined a cooling of political relations, while Chavism accuses him of external interference and acting as a “imperialist agent of the United States”, among other provocations and offenses.
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Even with the raids, Venezuela returned to the cargo, after the Brazilian government resumed discrete ties and explaining that it would not break diplomatic relations. On March 5, the Brazilian Ambassador in Caracas, Glivânia Maria de Oliveira, reported to Itamaraty a meeting with Foreign Trade Minister Coromoto Godoy.
In the conversation, which took place on February 28, the Brazilian ambassador made it clear to the dictatorship that “a large barrier to the greater thickening of bilateral trade would be the Venezuelan debt, referring to the exports of goods and services exports by Brazilian companies.”
According to the Brazilian diplomat, the Venezuelan minister responded vaguely and soon shared her “expectation” to participate in BRICS. The Venezuelan minister suggested that an invitation be made by the Brazilian government to some representative of the Chavista dictatorship.
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“My interlocutor said he was aware of the debt issue and vaguely expressed the expectation that this obstacle could be equated between the two countries. He added that the distance has not generated benefits to any country and that one of the ways to resume Venezuela’s development would be the approach with BRICS. They can contribute to strengthen ties with the group, ”said Glivânia.
