Lula meets with Maduro’s deputy and Venezuelan opposition in Brussels

President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (PT) participated this Monday (17) in a meeting between Delcy Rodríguez, who acts as executive president of the Nicolás Maduro regime in Venezuela, and lawyer Gerardo Blyde, one of the leaders of the opposition in country, in Brussels, on the margins of the 3rd Summit of the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (Celac) and the European Union.

During the summit, Delcy Rodríguez called for the “criminal blockade” against her country to be lifted. “We came with great hope of bringing the message from Venezuela, the lifting of the criminal blockade against our country, that’s why we bring from the president [o ditador venezuelano] Nicolás Maduro a message of peace, harmony, cooperation, which must be the path that continues and guides our countries,” said Rodríguez.

The meeting outside the summit’s agenda was also attended by the President of France, Emmanuel Macron, the President of Colombia, Gustavo Petro, and the President of Argentina, Alberto Fernández. The holding of the meeting was confirmed by the Palácio do Planalto, which did not give details about what was discussed among the participants, informed Agência Brasil.

Venezuela will have general elections next year and the opposition in the country is questioning decisions by public bodies that disqualified some of its main candidates. In the most recent case, former deputy María Corina Machado was sentenced to the loss of political rights for 15 years. Also opposition politicians, Henrique Capriles and Freddy Superlano are equally disqualified from running for president of the country. The date of the elections in 2024 has not yet been set.