After Venezuela accused Brazil of “interference and rudeness” and summoned its ambassador to Brasília, President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (PT) tried to minimize the crisis between the countries. In an interview with RedeTV, the Brazilian said that “[Nicolas] Maduro is Venezuela’s problem, not Brazil’s problem.”
When asked if it wasn’t time to ignore Venezuela’s dictator, Nicolas Maduro, Lula laughed and said he learned that he “needs to be very careful” when he “deals with other countries”.
A crisis between Brazil and Venezuela began to emerge after the electoral fraud that gave Maduro victory in July, despite the lack of evidence, when Brazil did not recognize the results.
The troubled relationship intensified after Brazil vetoed Venezuela’s entry into the BRICS – a bloc of countries formed by Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa, Ethiopia, Iran, Egypt and the United Arab Emirates) – something that the Caracas dictator wanted for a long time. For a nation to be accepted as a full member or participant of the bloc, there must be consensus among members, which did not happen.
With the words in the interview for RedeTV, the Brazilian president broke his fast on the topic. Until then, the Venezuelan regime’s provocations had been addressed through notes from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. After a publication by the Bolivarian National Police of Venezuela, which had a threatening tone, for example, Itamaraty said it was “surprised” and highlighted that this stance does not correspond to the way the Brazilian government treats Venezuela.
Without mentioning fraud, Lula said he had no right to question the electoral process in Venezuela
Lula mentioned, in the interview with RedeTV, that Brazil followed the electoral process through his “envoy”, the chief advisor of the Special Advisory to the President of the Republic of Brazil, Celso Amorim, whom he called “my minister”.
When talking about the process that proclaimed Maduro’s victory, Lula suggested that he does not question Venezuela’s elections, just as he does not want Brazil to be questioned. “He should have sent a note to the National Electoral Council, which he created, which had two members from the opposition and three from the government. He didn’t show it. It went straight to the Supreme Court,” said President Lula.
At the time, amid questions from opponents, in addition to several countries and international organizations, about the results, the Brazilian government, together with Colombia, demanded the publication of electoral records, but remained neutral about the proclaimed result.
Following the interview, Lula mentioned that just as he does not question the Venezuelan Supreme Court, he does not want the decisions of the Federal Supreme Court (STF) to be questioned. “I don’t have the right to question another country’s Supreme Court, because I don’t want any country to question my Supreme Court, even when it makes mistakes.” And he concluded by citing the supposed error. “Even when she does what she did to me, not letting me be a candidate in 2018,” Lula told RedeTV.
The Brazilian president also minimized the situation of the people of Venezuela and cited another dictatorship, that of Nicaragua, with whom he said he did not want to fight. “I want Venezuela to live well, for them to take care of their people with dignity. And I will take care of Brazil. Maduro takes care [do país] from him. Because I can’t worry about… fighting with Nicaragua, Venezuela or I don’t know who. I have to try to fight and make this country work,” said Lula.
