President of Chile also criticizes Lula’s statements about Venezuela| Photo: EFE/Chilean Presidency

Chilean President Gabriel Boric of the left-wing Social Convergence party criticized the claims of Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (PT) who said that the Venezuelan dictatorship is a “narrative”. The Chilean also said that one should not turn a “blind eye” to what happens in Venezuela and that human rights must be respected.

“It is not a question of narrative as President Lula said yesterday. It is reality and it is a matter of human rights”, said Boric during an interview at the Itamaraty Palace, this Tuesday (30). In a statement on Monday, Lula and dictator Nicolás Maduro said that Venezuela would be a democracy.

Despite the criticism, the Chilean defended the inclusion of the country in discussions to increase the integration of South America. He said that the sub-continent has a lot to work on together.

“We are happy that Venezuela is returning to multilateral forums. But that does not mean turning a blind eye. […] We are going to make a call to the United States and the European Union to lift the sanctions”, said Boric. According to him, economic sanctions cause isolation and that would not be the best thing for South America.

In addition to Boric, the Uruguayan president, Luis Lacalle Pou, aligned with the right, also criticized the Brazilian president’s allegations about the dictatorship in Venezuela. In a video that was published on his Instagram and quickly deleted, he said he was “surprised” that there was talk of “created narratives” for the situation in the country.