Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva said Saturday at the start of the Mercosur summit in Brazil that a possible military intervention by the United States in Venezuela would cause a “humanitarian disaster.” TASR informs about it based on the AFP report.
- President Lula criticized the possibility of US military intervention in Venezuela.
- Mercosur includes Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay and Uruguay.
- The US has strengthened its military presence in the Caribbean against drugs.
- Maduro sees the US campaign as an attempt at regime change.
- Trump has not ruled out military action against the Venezuelan government.
The Mercosur group consists of Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay and Uruguay. Lula’s comments came amid rising tensions between Washington and Caracas, and after US President Donald Trump left open the possibility of war against the government of Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro.
Tensions between the US and Venezuela
In recent months, the US military has strengthened its presence in the Caribbean and carried out airstrikes against alleged drug-carrying vessels in the region and in the Pacific, claiming to fight drug trafficking, reports AFP.
But Maduro says the campaign is part of a broader effort to change the regime in Caracas.
“Armed intervention in Venezuela would be a humanitarian disaster for the entire hemisphere and a dangerous precedent for the world,” warned the Brazilian president.
Trump’s statements about war
Asked about the possibility of war in an interview with NBC News on Thursday, Trump said: “I’m not ruling it out, no.”
Lula said on Thursday that he was “very concerned” about the growing crisis on Brazil’s borders and was ready to serve as a mediator to avert a possible armed conflict, writes AFP.
In his own words, the 80-year-old Lula told Trump that “things will not be solved by shooting, that it is better to sit down at the negotiating table and find a solution.”
Victims of attacks on ships
At least 104 people have been killed in US attacks on suspected drug boats so far, although the Trump administration has yet to provide any concrete evidence that the ships it targeted were carrying drugs, AFP reports.
