The President of Brazil, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, affirmed today that no one is obliged to agree with his opinions on Venezuelawhen commenting on the criticisms made by the presidents of Chile, Gabriel Boric, and Uruguay, Luis Lacalle Pou, for having said that the government of Nicolás Maduro was the target of narratives against him.
“Maduro is part of our continent and there was a lot of respect for Maduro’s participation; no one is forced to agree with anyone, that is how we are carrying out a democratic dialogue,” Lula said when asked by the Télam news agency at the end of the meeting. South American Summit.
The Brazilian president once again supported Maduro and said that both Venezuela and he, with his conviction for political persecution, were victims of “narratives” or stories made by political rivals.
“I always defended the idea that each country is sovereign to decide its political regime, what kind of elections it will have and to debate internal things,” he said, describing it as “very strange” that “the demand that the Western world makes of Venezuela is not makes it to Saudi Arabia.”
“I want Venezuela to be respected and I want the same for Brazil,” he remarked.
Lula minimized the criticism of Lacalle and Boric and maintained that the presidential summit “is not a group of friends” and that there are always speeches heated with criticism.
In any case, he explained that his objective was to bring together the South American countries to decide in which forum to continue together, since five nations are not part of Unasur.
Alberto Fernandez and Gabriel Boric.JPG
Presidency
In this context, he explained that he practically did not know Boric and Lacalle Pou and that this summit served to generate rapprochement and trust. He compared the situation with his first two terms (2003-10) and said that he had “brotherhood” with presidents of the time.
“There was a brotherhood that no longer exists, (South America) is more plural, currently we have to learn to live with that plurality because it means exercising democracy to the last consequences”he stressed.
For Lula, the union of South America as a bloc to negotiate in a coordinated manner in other international groups or forums is a necessity to maintain economic independence: “Either we come together to defend our interests or we will be puppets in the hand of the big economies.”
Lula da Silva received Maduro and assured that it is the beginning of “the return of the integration of South America”
Lula revealed that in the bilateral held yesterday with Maduro at the Planalto Palace, which meant the return of bilateral relations broken in 2019, he gave advice to the Venezuelan to build trust among the international community.
“I told Maduro that there is a narrative in the world and that he made mistakes; he should build a narrative, I told him that he needs to make a document with all the opposition parties, social movements, unions, parliament and governors to ask for respect for sovereignty of Venezuela because the world came to elect a president who was a person who did not exist and suffers from an economic bloc,” he said.
Lula referred to the deputy Juan Guaidó, who was claimed by Washington, the European Union, the Lima Group and other countries as the legitimate president of Venezuela.
Lula recalled that he sent his special adviser Celso Amorim, former foreign minister, to Caracas to talk with the government and the opposition.
“Amorim came back saying that they told him that the political situation had not been so calm for a long time,” Lula commented on the presidential elections scheduled for 2024 in Venezuela.
Source: Ambito
