Lula compares Bolsonaro to opposition against Maduro

President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (PT) criticized this Thursday (June 29, 2023) foreign interference in Venezuela. According to him, to beat Nicolás Maduro it is necessary to defeat him in the local elections. The petista said that it is necessary to inspect the fairness of the election, but that the opposition needs to accept the election result.

“What is not correct is the interference of a country within another country. What did the world do trying to elect the [Juan] Guaidó president of Venezuela, a citizen who had not been elected. If fashion catches on, there is no longer any guarantee in democracy, there is no longer any guarantee in the mandate of the people”declared in an interview with Rádio Gaúchafrom Rio Grande do Sul.

Lula said that, at the beginning of his first term as president, he set up a group with international authorities to hold a referendum in Venezuela. According to him, the election was legitimate, but the opposition at the time did not accept the result. At that moment, Lula compared the situation with that of former president Jair Bolsonaro (PL). In 2018, the opposition did not recognize the re-election of Nicolás Maduro.

“Didn’t we have a citizen here, a know-it-all, who didn’t want to accept the election result? Didn’t we have a little citizen here who wanted to carry out a coup on January 8th? There are people who do not want to accept the election result. Not everyone is like Lula, who lost to Collor and accepted the result. Who lost twice to Fernando Henrique Cardoso and accepted the result”he stated.

Despite defending non-interference in Venezuela’s internal politics, the PT said that it is necessary to monitor the neighboring country’s election to find out if it will be honest, making reference to Bolsonaro again.

“Whoever wants to defeat Maduro, defeat him in the next elections now. There will be elections. Defeat and take power. Let’s check it out, if there is not an honest election, we will talk about it”he stated.

“Do you live in a country where [ex-]President of the Republic has until today criticized the seriousness of electronic ballot boxes. We also need to be a little attentive so that we don’t just make a refrain about things that we sometimes don’t know deeply.”

NICARAGUA

The president also mentioned the country during his speech on Venezuela. Said there was a “problem” in Nicaragua and that he intends to speak with Daniel Ortega, president of the country, about his friction with the Catholic Church.

“We have a problem in Nicaragua, I’m going to talk to the president of Nicaragua because I have a relationship to talk about, which I think has to solve the problem with the church, but [aí] is over and each country touches its destiny”said Lula.

MADURO

The president of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, Nicolás Maduro Moros, 60, commands an autocratic regime with no guarantees of fundamental freedoms. He keeps, for example, people imprisoned for what he considers “political crimes”. There are also restrictions described in OAS reports (on the “illegitimate appointment” the National Electoral Council for an illegitimate National Assembly) and the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (October 2022, November 2022 and March 2023).