Parliamentarians and movements denounce and repudiate the visit of Nicolás Maduro to Brazil

Federal deputies Marcelo Álvaro Antônio (PL-MG) and Gustavo Gayer (PL-MG) sent letters to the US embassy in Brazil, this Monday (29), against the visit of the Venezuelan dictator Nicolás Maduro to President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (PT). At the same time, social movements such as Brasil Livre (MBL) and Advogados de Direita Brasil repudiated the presence of the leader in the country.

Parliamentarians allege to Ambassador Elizabeth Frawley Bagley that Maduro is a “criminal responsible for the exodus of millions of Venezuelan refugees throughout Latin America, mainly in Brazil” and that he has a search warrant against him by the US State Department.

“I inform you that the criminal is in Brazilian territory, being received by the President of the Republic of Brazil”, said Marcelo Álvaro Antônio. A similar tone was used by Gustavo Gayer in the letter to the US embassy, ​​stating that Maduro is “wanted by US authorities, accused by the US Attorney General, William Barr, of the crimes of drug trafficking, international terrorism and corruption”.

Deputy Zé Trovão (PL-SC) amended, and said that “I await the response from the American embassy regarding this mockery that is the presence of this dictator being received with honors by the ‘most honest soul in the world’ on Brazilian soil. It is a true affront”.

The US State Department website published the search notice of Maduro in March 2020 through the Bureau of International Narcotics Affairs for the crime of narcoterrorism, among others.

In addition to the letters sent to the embassy, ​​other parliamentarians criticized the visit of the Venezuelan leader to Brazil. Federal deputy Kim Kataguiri (União Brasil-SP) questioned the presence of Maduro in Brazil, what kind of agreement Brazil can make with Venezuela. “Import misery,” he said.

Senator Ciro Nogueira (PP-PI), went further and said that “Brazil has returned to pamper Latin American dictators and treat them as ‘heads of state’. Democracy for the PT is a word in the dictionary”.

“Brazil once again welcomed South American dictators with state honors, this time Maduro. Another negative sign for the international community by the Lula government. The dictator will be charged with restoring democracy and human rights in Venezuela”, questioned Sérgio Moro (União Brasil-PR).

Social movements repudiate the presence of Maduro in Brazil

Through social media, the MBL criticized Maduro’s presence in Brazil mainly for the honors bestowed on the Venezuelan leader. He said that “Lula is keen to receive with honors in the Planalto a dictator accused of censoring the press and torturing opponents. That’s why the entire press treated this thief as a ‘democrat’ during the election”.

The movement scheduled an act for June 4, in São Paulo, against the presence of Maduro in the country.

The Movimento Advogados de Direita Brasil, on the other hand, classified the Venezuelan leader as an “internationally condemned ruler for the commission of crimes against humanity, especially against his own people, who suffer from hunger and submit themselves to situations of risk of death in the desperate attempt to abandon Venezuela and breathe the air of freedom in neighboring countries, more specifically in Brazil”.

The movement recalls that, every day, about 800 Venezuelans arrive in Brazil fleeing the country’s political regime, “being welcomed here and referred for care and, later, to a minimally dignified life, which they do not find in their own homeland”. There are around 800,000 citizens since 2017, according to the collective based on data from the UN International Organization for Migration.

“The Brazilian people are, in general, good-natured and hard-working, honest and favor peace and freedom, reasons why they cannot accept as normal the reception of a neighboring dictator as a friend”, complete the Right Lawyers Brazil.