Lula and Maduro met in Brasilia.| Photo: Rafa Neddermeyer/Agência Brasil.

Human Rights Watch criticized the conduct of President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva (PT) when he received the Venezuelan dictator, Nicolás Maduro, this week. For the organization, Lula “implied that democracy is thriving in Venezuela and called the weakening of democratic institutions in the country a ‘constructed narrative'”.

In a note, the director of HRW in Brazil, Maria Laura Canineu, and the researcher Martina Rapido Ragozzino stated that it was “frustrating” to see Lula “fawning over such an authoritarian ruler”. According to the organization, since 2014, there have been 15,700 arrests for political reasons. Currently, more than 280 people remain in political detention in Venezuela. In addition, HRW points out that the Maduro government has caused one of the biggest migratory crises in the world: 7.2 million Venezuelans have fled the country since 2014.

“Several world leaders have met with Maduro in recent months, making themselves available to mediate negotiations to restore democracy in the country. But, by repeating Maduro’s speech, President Lula aligned himself with his authoritarian allies and missed the opportunity to help Venezuela out of a huge humanitarian and human rights crisis,” the organization said.

They stressed that Lula “should seize every opportunity to restore the leadership that his reckless comments have undermined and fulfill his promise to be a leader in defending and promoting human rights around the world.”

“President Lula should show support for the Venezuelan people: political prisoners, threatened journalists, the sick and hungry, migrants and refugees, in addition to using every opportunity he has to reformulate his position on the situation in Venezuela”, said the representatives of Human Rights Watch.