Latin American leaders criticize Lula Da Silva for whitewashing Maduro's regime

Chile's Gabriel Boric and Uruguay's Luis Lacalle Pou recalled the human rights violations in Venezuela in response to the Brazilian president's controversial statements.

lula-dasilba-gabriel-boric-nicolas-maduro — Voz Media (Cordon Press - Wikimedia Commons)

Published by

Verónica Silveri Pazos

31 de mayo, 2023

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The president of Chile, Gabriel Boric, and his Uruguayan counterpart, Luis Lacalle Pou, rejected the words of the Brazilian president, Lula Da Silva, who assured that a "narrative" has been created regarding the violation of human rights and lack of democracy in Venezuela.

The leaders made these statements at the summit of South American presidents held in Brasilia (capital of Brazil), where the participation of Venezuelan dictator Nicolás Maduro marked his return to an important official event after the international rejection of the regime for severe human rights violations.

Criticism from Boric and Lacalle Pou

The leftist Boric assured that he was a first-person witness of the reality experienced by Venezuelans. Many of them - who have been forced to leave their country - go to Chile in search of opportunities, security and quality of life.

I have already stated, respectfully, that I disagreed with what President Lula said yesterday in the sense that the human rights situation in Venezuela was a narrative construction. It is not a narrative construction; it is a reality, it is serious and I have had the opportunity to see it in the eyes and in the pain of hundreds of thousands of Venezuelans who are in our country today,

He also reiterated the importance of expressing this fact to Maduro:

From our point of view, as Chilean government and in particular me as president, as a left-wing president, I think it was important to express it in front of Nicolás Maduro in this first opportunity we had to meet.

Uruguayan President Luis Lacalle Pou said he was "surprised when people talked about what is happening in Venezuela is a narrative" :

If there are so many groups in the world that are trying to mediate so that democracy is fully established in Venezuela, so that human rights are respected, so that there are no political prisoners, the worst thing we can do is to cover the sun with a finger. Let's give them the name they have and help them.

Maduro, the dictator received with honors

Nicolás Maduro arrived last Monday in Brazil. He was personally received with honors by Lula, who declared in front of the press the phrase that generated all the controversy:

You know the narrative that was built against Venezuela, of anti-democracy, of authoritarianism, of (...) It's up to you, partner, to build your narrative. and turn this party around so that we can win definitively and Venezuela can once again become a sovereign country where only its people, through a free vote, can decide who will govern.

Previously, the Brazilian leftist suggested to the other presidents invited to the summit to create a conciliation dialogue to achieve greater integration among the surrounding countries. However, this was not the reason for Boric and Lacalle Pou's criticism. The leaders question Lula's characterization of the violation of human rights in Venezuela as a created fact and his argument that there are no reasons why there should be international sanctions against the Maduro regime.

Criticism from Felipe Gonzalez

Beyond the summit, another leader who spoke out against Maduro's regime was the former Spanish President Felipe González, who in a speech during the presentation of the Casla Institute's report on crimes against humanity -which includes crimes committed by the Maduro regime- said: "We are very pleased to announce that we have been able to obtain the following information from the Spanish government":

Maduro is responsible for crimes against humanity, I will never support the whitewashing operation (...) The regime of Maduro continues stealing, torturing, repressing and there is a chant of praise that communication must be recovered (...) Does anyone think that Maduro is going to agree to clean elections, with guarantees, after the construction of structures (of repression) that he has done?