Lula receives dictator Maduro and South American presidents in meeting in Brazil

Venezuelan dictator Nicolás Maduro landed on Sunday night in Brasilia with the aim of meeting with Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva and participating in a summit on Tuesday (30) with ten heads of state from South America. The summit was organized by Itamaraty with the aim of creating what the folder calls “a frank dialogue” between the countries.

Almost all the presidents of South America will attend a summit coordinated by the Brazilian government. The report found that the invitation was made to all the presidents of South America and only the president of Peru, Dina Boluarte, had informed her of her absence at the meeting, as her country is experiencing a series of demonstrations against the government.

Maduro should have a bilateral meeting with Lula on Monday (29) at the Planalto Palace. The dictator’s entry into Brazil was officially prohibited until the end of former President Jair Bolsonaro’s government, but the determination was revoked because Lula wanted to invite him to his inauguration in January. The meeting did not take place because Caracas was unable to organize the trip in time after the restriction on Maduro was lifted in December 2022.

The Bolsonaro government recognized the dissident Juán Guaidó as president of Venezuela, despite the fact that power never left Maduro’s hands.

At the beginning of March, Lula’s special advisor, Celso Amorim, went to the country and met with the Venezuelan dictator. At the time, Maduro said that Brazil and Venezuela were “committed to the renewal of union and solidarity agreements”.

Last week, the Itamaraty also sent a team from the Brazilian Cooperation Agency (ABC) to the country to “identify bilateral cooperation issues”.

In a note, the ministry said that the team spent three days in Venezuela and the interaction was part of a government program to restore ties with other countries. However, it is not possible to know if there is any new reason that leads Brazil to approach Venezuela beyond the ideological identification between Lula and Maduro.

Data from the International Migration Observatory indicate that around 400,000 Venezuelans have fled their country to Brazil since 2017 due to the poverty and political repression that make up the scenario of the dictatorship of Maduro, political successor of Hugo Chávez (1954_2013). Most of them were received in Operation Acolhida.

Lula tries to create space to unite leftist governments in South America

The meeting of South American heads of state taking place this Tuesday (30) is another step by Lula towards his desire to unite leftist governments in South America, according to analysts. Currently, the countries with left-wing governments are: Argentina, Bolivia, Chile, Colombia, Venezuela, Guana and Suriname.

Before assuming the presidency, Lula and members of the Workers’ Party pursued this objective through the Foro de São Paulo, an entity that organizes leftist parties in South America.

But the official version of Itamaraty with Lula in the presidency is that the meeting has the objective of “returning to talk with the world”, mainly with the American sub-continent.

The government says it is trying to establish relationships that it classifies as strategic for Brazil. The idea would be to establish a new discussion forum or invest in strengthening existing initiatives, such as UNASUR (União das Nações Sul-Americanas. Lula announced Brazil’s return to UNASUR on May 6, after revoking Jair Bolsonaro’s decree (PL).

But, analysts fear that the Lula government’s idea is to get support from presidents who are ideologically aligned with the PT in exchange for funding opportunities and subsidies, as has already happened with Venezuela and Cuba. The most recent case was Lula’s attempt to help the Argentine economy, which was left in shambles after the State intervened in the market.