Can Lula’s stance towards Maduro change after criticism from Itamaraty?

After the Venezuelan dictatorship imposed obstacles to the registration of opponents in the electoral dispute, the Brazilian Ministry of Foreign Affairs said it was monitoring the situation in the neighboring country with “concern.” In a note, released this Tuesday (26), the Lula government questioned the lack of “official explanation” about the impediment faced by opposition candidates in registering their candidacies.

Lula, who has come out in defense of dictator Nicolás Maduro on several occasions, was one of the organizers of the Barbados Agreement, signed by Venezuela with the United States, in which the country agreed to ease economic embargoes on Caracas. The counterpart of the Chavista regime would be the holding of safe and democratic elections. However, the dictator has not fulfilled his part of the agreement.

Maduro’s chancellery classified the Itamaraty statement, which questions the conduct of the elections, as “gray and interventionist”. The regime accused the Brazilian foreign ministry of “echoing US rhetoric” by releasing comments that demonstrate “a profound lack of knowledge and ignorance about the political reality in Venezuela”. Despite the criticism, Venezuela thanked Lula for his stance against international sanctions.

“The Venezuelan government has maintained a conduct that is faithful to the principles that govern diplomacy and friendly relations with Brazil, and under no circumstances does it issue, nor will it issue value judgments on the political and judicial processes taking place in that country, consequently it has the morality to demand the strictest respect for the principle of non-interference in internal affairs and in our democracy, one of the most robust in the region”, says the statement from the Venezuelan Foreign Ministry.

Respond to the poll People’s Gazette on the topic below.