Rio de Janeiro, Aug 17 (EFE).- President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva’s change of tone regarding the crisis in Venezuela is making Brazil’s role as mediator more difficult and is seen by analysts as a reflection of the crossroads in which the progressive leader finds himself in trying to balance the interests of his country and those of his party.
Lula has toughened his stance in response to the results of the presidential elections in Venezuela, in which, according to the National Electoral Council, President Nicolás Maduro emerged victorious, although they are considered a “fraud” by the opposition.
From describing the electoral process as “normal”, the Brazilian president now says that Maduro “knows that he owes everyone an explanation” for not having published the electoral records.
“This ambiguity, this confusion (in the speech) makes no sense,” Sérgio Praça, a professor at the Faculty of Social Sciences of the Getulio Vargas Foundation, told EFE.
The doctor in Political Sciences notes that the errors have not only been in the speech but also in the proposals that the Brazilian president has made this week through interviews with local media to calm the post-electoral crisis in Venezuela.
Lula suggested holding new elections – something rejected by Maduro and the opposition – or the formation of a coalition government that includes members of both Chavismo and the opposition.
“That’s even worse, because it’s a dictatorship, and when does a dictatorship share power?” the analyst said.
Undermining Brazil’s mediating role
Lula’s change of position shows a distancing from Maduro, whom he received with honours at the Planalto presidential palace last year, when he publicly defended him as Venezuelan president.
Lula himself admitted on Thursday that the relationship between the two has “deteriorated” as a result of the “deterioration of the political situation in Venezuela” and revealed that he had not spoken to Maduro since before the elections.
A day later, Lula went a step further in his statements and described the government of the Caribbean country as “a very unpleasant regime, with an authoritarian tendency.”
These words make it even more difficult for Brazil to intervene, as it is one of the countries that has chosen not to recognise any candidate as the winner of the election until the official results are released.
Since the July 28 elections, Lula has attempted to carry out a sort of mediation with the presidents of Colombia, Gustavo Petro, and Mexico, Manuel Andrés López Obrador, but the latter has distanced himself from that process in recent days.
“Nobody can solve this problem with diplomacy,” Praça said.
Lula’s political crossroads
According to the expert, Lula is being “extraordinarily badly advised” in a “very difficult” situation that could lead to a diplomatic crisis with Venezuela or political consequences for the Brazilian president.
“If he, let’s say, did not accept Maduro’s supposed victory and accepted that of the opposition – which is the one that really won – this would create a diplomatic crisis with Venezuela and an internal crisis in his party,” he stressed.
One day after the elections, the Workers’ Party (PT), the largest left-wing party in Latin America and led by the Brazilian president, described the elections as “democratic and sovereign” and Maduro as “re-elected” president.
Although Lula said in a radio interview on Friday that he “did not agree” with what the PT leadership said at the time, the decision he makes could have “terrible” political and diplomatic consequences, according to Praça.
The expert insisted on the poor advice given by the Brazilian president, particularly by former foreign minister Celso Amorim, a long-time diplomat and close friend of Lula who is highly regarded by left-wing leaders in Latin America.
Maria Angelica Troncoso
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2024-08-17 15:02:07
