August 15, 2024
Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva insisted Thursday on maintaining a “cautious position” on Venezuela, while continuing diplomatic talks with his Colombian counterpart, Gustavo Petro.
“I do not want to behave in a passionate or hasty manner [on the Venezuela issue],” said Lula, in a conversation with Radio T, which was broadcast live on social networks.
According to the Brazilian president, he “defends the respect for the internal affairs of each country” despite publicly demanding, after the elections on July 28, the polling records from the National Electoral Council (CNE).
Lula pretends to seem concerned about the Venezuelan people, declaring that his main objective in the negotiations is to find a political solution to the crisis that was unleashed after the elections of last July 28, in which the CNE, the only body constitutionally empowered in Venezuela, certified the triumph of the current president, Nicolás Maduro.
In view of the fact that the radical opposition has ignored the result and alleges an alleged “fraud”, its spokesperson wants to proclaim as “president elect” the opposition candidate Edmundo González, who came second in the race, according to CNE data.
The President of Brazil claims the right to put on the table several options between the parties, such as the possible constitution of a “coalition government”, integrating members of the current government and the opposition; or even the repetition of the elections.
What Brazil remains unchanged is its request that the Venezuelan electoral authorities clarify any doubts about the result: “It is important that the people have the data”, he pointed out.
Following the line of his interferenceist discourse, he explained that until this matter is not elucidated, he will not proceed to recognize anyone as president of Venezuela for the period 2025-2031. “I cannot say that the opposition was victorious because I do not have the data, and much less can I say that Maduro won because I do not have the data either,” he maintained.
Finally, Lula revealed that on Wednesday he had held a meeting with Petro on the issue, but made it clear that it was not the time to “be hasty and make a decision” on the matter. “In the same way that I want Brazil to be respected, I have to respect the rest of the countries”, a hypocritical attitude with which he distances himself from integrationism in the region together with the Colombian president.
The reelected president of Venezuela with more than 6 million votes of his people validated by the CNE, Nicolás Maduro Moros, filed an appeal before the Electoral Chamber of the Supreme Court of Justice to carry out an expert appraisal of the elections and certify the results. The justice called to testify all the participants in the elections to present their minutes, but the only one absent from the appearances was the candidate of the radical opposition, Edmundo González Urrutia, now in contempt of court.
“I have shown my face, I will always show my face”, expressed Maduro last Friday, after answering the ‘interrogation’ made to him by the judges and magistrates of the Electoral Chamber. “I have not shunned any question (…) “Whatever the TSJ says will be holy sentence”, he alleged.
Source: Cuba en Resumen