Maduro’s acquittal is a false diplomatic shortcut by Lula – 05/30/2023 – Bruno Boghossian

President Lula was more generous with Nicolás Maduro than candidate Lula. In the campaign, the PT complained about the sanctions imposed on the Venezuelan regime, but dodged the dictator’s critics by recognizing the benefits of alternating power. “I wish for Venezuela and for all countries. There is no irreplaceable president,” he said in August.

In Planalto, Lula left the concession aside. Upon receiving Maduro, the Brazilian ignored the Venezuelan’s democratic violations, painted his partner as a victim of “a narrative” and graced the regime with an acquittal: “Our opponents will have to apologize for the damage they did in Venezuela.”

Lula has not changed his position, but the difference in tone highlights the reasoning behind his choices. Before, the petista preferred to modulate the campaign speech to cushion the attacks of his opponents. Now, he insists on using presidential power to help and establish a firm connection with his neighbor.

No one expected Lula to invite Maduro to listen to a sermon. The PT corrected a political error by restoring ties with Venezuela, reinforced investment in a regional integration project and protected himself behind the Brazilian doctrine of non-interference in other countries.

If he stopped there, Lula would manage to pinch a diplomatic victory. Within the political game, she could even treat the exploitation, made by opponents, of her photograph alongside Maduro as a naive lament. The petista surpassed this limit by offering the Venezuelan a kind of collective defense (“our opponents”) and offering advice to the dictator.

Lula seems intent on taking advantage of Brazil’s stature and international credibility to take a deceptive diplomatic shortcut. The objective would be to speed up a rehabilitation of Venezuela that, in a way, spared Chavismo from a reckoning. Treating the deterioration of democracy as an illusion, however, leaves a stain on the legitimacy of this process.

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