• Brazil leader also talks about US, China in interview. Maduro criticized for barring most candidates from election

Simone Iglesias and Daniel Carvalho, Bloomberg News

RIO
EnergiesNet.com 07 23 2024

President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva warned his long-term ally Nicolas Maduro that Venezuela’s economic future hinges on a clean election that ensures government legitimacy before the international community. 

Six days before the disputed vote that has opposition candidate Edmundo Gonzalez challenging the incumbent, the Brazilian leader expressed concern about Maduro’s recent comments about an impending “blood bath” and a “civil war” should those he described as “fascists” come to power.

“Whoever loses an election gets a reality check, not a blood bath,” Lula said Monday in an interview with the foreign press in Brasilia. “Maduro needs to learn: when you win, you stay; when you lose, you go away and get ready to dispute another election.

Lula said he’ll send Celso Amorim, his top foreign affairs adviser, to watch the vote in Venezuela, together with a couple of representatives from Brazil’s top electoral court.

The international community has criticized Maduro for barring most opposition candidates from running in the July 28 vote, including front-runner Maria Corina Machado who now supports Gonzalez. A clean election is a condition for the US to remove sanctions on Venezuelan oil industry.

Responding to questions from journalists about Lula’s comments, Maduro’s campaign chief and National Assembly President Jorge Rodriguez assured that the government will abide by the election’s result. “How can we not respect the results if we are going to win?”

Accusations of fraud and government interference have marred Venezuelan elections for years, so all eyes, both within and outside the country, will be watching for transparency and fairness in the vote. Venezuela withdrew the European Union’s invitation to observe the vote. The Carter Center and the United Nations are sending a few electoral experts — not observers — with very limited responsibilities.

With little international oversight, a network of citizens says it has organized enough volunteers to help observe the count at the country’s roughly 30,000 polling tables in efforts to minimize the risk of vote tampering. At the same time, past claims of electoral fraud have gone nowhere.

US, China

Asked about Joe Biden’s decision to step down from the presidential race, Lula struck a diplomatic tone, saying he’ll maintain “civilized” relations with whoever wins the November vote, be it Donald Trump or a Democrat. 

In private, Brazilian government officials have voiced concern about a possible Trump victory boosting right-wing candidates across Latin America.

Lula also spoke about his plans to expand Brazil’s partnership with China, which is already its top trading partner. 

“We want to discuss with the Chinese a new strategic partnership that includes not only commodities exports, but also science and technology with the production of semiconductor chips and software,” he said. “We want a partnership that makes our relationship bigger, more prosperous, and able to create jobs in Brazil and China.”

–With assistance from Andreina Itriago Acosta.

bloomberg.com 07 22 2024