The opposition to the Lula government managed to approve a parliamentary trip to Caracas, Venezuela, in the Chamber of Deputies. The objective of the visit is to establish channels with the interim government of Delcy Rodríguez and open space for Brazilian companies to return to the neighboring country’s market.
The trip takes place amid the economic and political opening promoted by the successor to dictator Nicolás Maduro, captured in a special operation by the American Army in January. Under the tutelage of Donald Trump, the then Chavista vice president, now in power, began a wave of reforms.
Delcy promoted the partial release of political prisoners and an amnesty law still criticized by civil society, proposed the liberalization of the oil sector and recent mining reform.
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Delcy’s objective is to attract foreign capital and boost the economy, as well as promote political accommodation of the Chavista group that formed a partnership with Washington and remained in power. According to diplomatic observers in Caracas, however, there are disagreements among the heirs of the Chavista estate about how the transition will take place.
Representative Eduardo Pazuello (PL-RJ), retired Army general and former Minister of Health in the Jair Bolsonaro government, leads the organization of the trip. He stated in the Chamber that he intends to seek high-level dialogue. The deputy cited as an example that, in March, Delcy Rodríguez received a committee of US senators.
“There is no way to leave Brazil out of the reconstruction of Venezuela. It is absurd that we are not talking about this institutionally. It will solve the economic situation of our country if we get involved in the reconstruction”, said the deputy, according to whom it is not yet defined whether or not national businesspeople will accompany the trip. “It’s officially opening the channels. Why doesn’t the government do it?”
Economic interests
One of the main Brazilian business groups with interests in Venezuela is J&F, led by brothers Joesley and Wesley Batista. Joesley, the main face of the group, was already in Caracas and spoke with Delcy in January. Joesley also made an appeal to Maduro at the end of 2025, before the dictator was arrested.
Group companies are present in Venezuela and prospect business opportunities in the oil, gas and energy sectors, as well as food. Fluxus, purchased by the group, would be interested in exploring oil wells.
Âmbar Energia was authorized to import electricity from Guri. JBS has already conducted business in the food sector.
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Since the fall of Maduro, the Venezuelan capital has been the destination of several business, political and diplomatic visits, from Americans and Europeans, as well as Colombians. For them, a Brazilian mission is opportune due to its opening moment. There has been an influx in recent weeks, with a kind of normalization and resumption of air connections and positive signals from the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank.
Hydroelectric power
Pazuello is the former commander of Operation Acolhida, in Roraima, a border state that has direct links with Venezuela and depends on energy generated in the neighboring country. Last year, Brazil returned to purchasing energy generated by the Guri hydroelectric plant, after six years, to supply demand in the North region. The operation has been receiving Venezuelan immigrants in Brazil since 2018.
The deputy says that the agenda will be built in partnership with the chancelleries and that he wants to find a date for the mission in the first half of the year, before the elections.
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“Venezuela is a partner that we cannot give up. Mainly for the State of Roraima, for Amazonas and the North of our country. This cannot be left to interlocutors at whoever level. The visit of the Mines and Energy Commission and the Foreign Relations Commission to deal at a high level with Venezuela, taking our possibilities and what we have good in productive sectors, mainly oil, with our expertise, is an opportunity to work”, stated the former minister.
In his request for the Chamber to pay for the official mission, the deputy said he intends to maintain contacts with the Miraflores Palace and the National Assembly. He mentioned that the visit should have three axes:
- Bilateral Trade: Identify opportunities to expand Brazilian exports and normalize trade flows that benefit the national productive sector.
- Energy Integration (Guri Hydroelectric): Monitor the protocols for resuming the import of electrical energy from Guri to the state of Roraima, aiming to guarantee energy security and reduce costs for the North region.
- Regional Cooperation in the Amazon: Discuss mechanisms for environmental preservation, border security and sustainable development in the shared Amazon biome.
He criticized Lula’s lack of diplomacy. Itamaraty has not yet been activated to provide support for the mission. The report found that the commercial sector and the embassy in Caracas monitor opportunities to promote the insertion of companies in the country.
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Pazuello said the mission is open to all political spectrums. However, there has not yet been a formalization of deputies interested in joining the delegation, according to the Foreign Relations and National Defense Commission (Creden). Neither date definition. The request was approved on April 8th and also includes the participation of deputies from the Mines and Energy Commission.
According to the Chamber, another member of the trip would be deputy Fausto Pinato (PP-SP), with an independent profile. In addition to him and Pazuello himself, the proposal to set up the parliamentary mission to Caracas was signed by a group of Bolsonaro supporters: Carla Dickson (União-RN), General Girão (PL-RN), Gustavo Gayer (PL-GO) and Sergeant Fahur (PL-PR).
Since the reopening of the Brazilian embassy in 2023, no delegation from the Chamber or Senate has made visits to Caracas, except for occasional trips by individual parliamentarians. In 2019, congressmen from the Bolsonarist group visited the border between Pacaraima (RR) and Santa Elena de Uairén.
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Senator Chico Rodrigues (PSB-RR), president of the Brazil-Venezuela Parliamentary Group, was in the country in 2022 and 2024. In the last visit, he acted as an international observer on the occasion of the election rigged by Maduro.
Frustrated trip in 2015
If confirmed, the opposition mission will be the first since a delegation of Brazilian opposition senators traveled to Caracas in June 2015 and went through moments of tension with Chavista authorities and militants.
They were received, on the occasion, by opposition leader María Corina Machado. Maduro’s allies harassed the senators, who spent a few hours in Caracas. The van transporting them was stoned and blocked in traffic, having to return to the airport.
On that occasion, the mission also aimed to visit political prisoners, which was interpreted as interference by Chavismo. The delegation was headed, among others, by tucano senators Aécio Neves (MG) and Aloysio Nunes Ferreira (SP), who would become chancellor in the government Michel Temer, in addition to the current pre-candidate for president for the PSD Ronaldo Caiado, then senator from Goiás in the Democrats.
They had to ask for help from minister Mauro Vieira, also chancellor at the time, in the Dilma Rousseff government. Days later, senators from the Dilma government base made another trip to Caracas, aboard a Brazilian Air Force aircraft.
