Lula turns Maduro’s visit into the main meeting of the summit of the South

President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva (PT) transformed the visit of the Venezuelan dictator, Nicolás Maduro, into the main reception given to heads of state who arrive in Brazil this week. In addition to the meeting with the Venezuelan on Monday (29), the PT will hold a meeting this Tuesday (30) with at least 10 leaders of South American countries.

For the left-wing dictator, however, Lula prepared a special ceremony with the right to go up the ramp of the Planalto Palace. This is the first time that Maduro lands in Brazil since 2015, when he participated in a meeting between Mercosur countries, promoted by then-president Dilma Rousseff (PT).

Maduro was barred from entering Brazil in 2019, when then-president Jair Bolsonaro severed diplomatic ties with Venezuela and closed the Brazilian embassy in Caracas. Until the end of last year, Brazilian diplomacy recognized the opposition leader Juan Guaidó as interim president of the Venezuelan country. With Lula’s return to the Planalto, however, diplomatic relations between the two countries were reestablished.

In addition to a closed-door meeting with Lula, Maduro was also received in an expanded meeting with several members of the PT government, including the Minister of Finance, Fernando Hadadd (PT). Afterwards, the two governments will hold a ceremony for the signing of acts. After that, lunch will be served for Maduro and his wife at the Itamaraty Palace, headquarters of the Brazilian Chancellery.

“I am grateful for the warm welcome we were received in Brasilia, capital of the Federative Republic of Brazil. In the next few hours we will be developing a diplomatic agenda that will reinforce the necessary union of the peoples of our continent”, published Maduro on social networks.

According to members of the Lula government, the meeting with Maduro will serve to review the process of normalizing the relationship between the two countries. The new Venezuelan ambassador, Manuel Vicente Vadell Aquino, has already presented his credentials in Brasilia. Before arriving at Planalto, the dictator was received at the Brasília Air Force Base by Ambassador Gisela Padovan, secretary for Latin America and the Caribbean at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Brazil wants to act as an observer of the Venezuelan elections in 2024

Members of Brazilian diplomacy also argue that one of the topics to be discussed during Maduro’s visit to Brazil will be the holding of elections in Venezuela next year. According to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, this meeting will be the opportunity for the Brazilian president and the dictator to talk about “internal dialogue processes in Venezuela”.

The elections, scheduled to take place in May 2024, have been followed by several countries, such as the United States, Mexico and Norway. According to members of the Lula government, the opposition to the Maduro regime has already signaled that it does not intend to adopt a movement to interrupt the dictator’s current mandate. However, the opposition is working to facilitate an election that provides legitimate conditions for different parties to compete – which did not happen in the last elections held in the neighboring country.

Maduro took power after the death of Hugo Chávez in 2013 and has since been accused of human rights violations. This year, for example, Brazil reached the milestone of 100,000 Venezuelans living in the interior of Brazil due to the economic and social crisis in the neighboring country.

In addition to Brazil, other countries such as Colombia, Ecuador and Peru are the most sought after by Venezuelans trying to flee the Maduro regime. More than 7 million Venezuelans have already left the country, according to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR).

In addition to refugees, Lula’s meeting with Maduro will also focus on the protection of populations residing on the borders between the two countries, including the Yanomami peoples.

Back to the Planalto, Lula defended “special affection” with Venezuela

In addition to restoring diplomatic relations with the Maduro dictatorship, Lula has defended that other countries have a “special affection” with the dictatorships of Venezuela and Cuba. The petista has also indicated that the National Bank for Economic and Social Development (BNDES) will again grant loans to the Venezuelan government, which already accumulates a debt of more than US$ 1 billion.

“Brazil, especially Brazil, and the countries that make up CELAC, have to treat Cuba and Venezuela with great affection. And whatever we can help them to solve their problems, we will help”, said Lula at the time.

On Venezuela’s debt to Brazil, members of the Lula government admit that the two countries are already negotiating payment methods. In March, during a visit to Caracas, the special adviser to the Presidency, Celso Amorim, alleged that the dictator Maduro was willing to reimburse the Brazilian coffers, but since then no payment plan has been disclosed by the PT government.

The biggest project financed by the BNDES in Venezuela was the construction of the Usina Siderúrgica Nacional, carried out by the contractor Andrade Gutierrez. The work had a loan of US$ 865 million contracted in 2010. In the midst of the investigations of Operation Lava Jato, the financing was suspended. Another outstanding project is the construction of Line 2 of the Los Teques Metro, under the responsibility of Odebrecht, which received a loan of US$ 862 million and was also suspended on suspicion of corruption.

Summit to receive other South American heads of state

The meeting with Maduro in the Planalto takes place on the eve of the summit in the South, which was convened by Lula together with the other heads of state on the continent. At least ten leaders confirmed their presence at the event to be held at the Itamaraty Palace.

Until this Monday, only the president of Peru, Dina Boluarte, had not indicated their presence at the event. Peru is experiencing a serious political crisis since the ousting of former President Pedro Castillo at the end of last year. In his place will come the president of the country’s council of ministers, Alberto Otárola, a kind of prime minister. French Guiana does not participate because it is an overseas territory of France.

Lula is going to propose to the other heads of state the creation of a new coordination mechanism with the participation of all the nations of the South American continent. The objective is to resume a joint deliberation space for regional integration, despite political differences between governments.

This will be the first meeting with the entire group since 2014, when there was the last meeting of the Union of South American Nations (Unasur) with all the nations of the bloc.

“The main objective of this meeting is to resume the dialogue with the South American countries, which has been very truncated in recent years, and it is a priority of the Lula government. We are aware that there is a difference in vision and ideological differences between the countries, but he [Lula] wants to reactivate this dialogue based on common denominators with the countries”, explained ambassador Gisela Padovan.