President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva declared this Thursday (28) that the situation in Venezuela is “serious” and that it has “no legal or political explanation”. The speech took place at Palácio do Planalto, alongside French President Emmanuel Macron. Opposition candidate Corina Yoris was prevented from registering her candidacy for the Venezuelan electoral process. She is one of the main names to defeat dictator Nicolás Maduro.
“It is serious that the candidate could not have been registered. She was not banned by the courts, it seems that she tried to use the computer and was unable to enter, this caused damage to the candidacy. There is no legal or political explanation for prohibiting an opponent from being a candidate. Here in Brazil, everyone knows, all opponents are treated under the same conditions. Here, it is prohibited to prohibit, unless there is a judicial restriction”, said the PT member, adding that Brazil will observe the process in the neighboring country.
Macron highlighted that he “agrees with everything” that was said by Lula. For the European leader, the electoral process in Venezuela has not been democratic or transparent. “We firmly condemn the removal of a candidate from the process. We do not despair, but the situation is serious and has worsened,” he declared.
The presidential elections in Venezuela are scheduled for July 28. At the beginning of this month, Lula said he hoped the election would be as democratic as possible and criticized opponents of the dictator Nicolás Maduro. Asked if he believes the process is fair, the Brazilian president replied that doubts cannot be cast before the event actually takes place.
“Because then there begins to be talk of predicting, in advance, that there will be problems. We have to guarantee the presumption of innocence until the elections take place so that we can judge whether they were democratic,” he said. “And I hope it is. I think Venezuela needs this, I think Maduro needs this and I think humanity needs this,” he added.
The deadline for registering candidacies for the presidential elections in the neighboring country ended last Monday night (25). Hours later, the Democratic Unitary Platform (PUD), a coalition that brings together the main opposition parties to Maduro, announced that it had been prevented from registering Corina Yoris’ name for the elections. She was appointed to replace María Corina Machado, from the same political group, banned from holding public office by Venezuelan justice.
In reaction, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs released a statement on Tuesday (26), and stated that it was following the electoral process in Venezuela with “expectation and concern”.
“Brazil is ready to, together with other members of the international community, cooperate so that the election announced for July 28 constitutes a firm step towards normalizing political life and strengthening democracy in Venezuela, a neighboring country and friend of the Brazil. Brazil reiterates its rejection of any type of sanctions that, in addition to being illegal, only contribute to isolating Venezuela and increasing the suffering of its people”, states Itamaraty.
Venezuela countered the Itamaraty statement, calling Brazil’s position “gray and intrusive” and saying “it appears to have been dictated by the United States Department of State.” Also according to the Venezuelan note, the Brazilian government made “comments filled with profound lack of knowledge and ignorance about the political reality in Venezuela.” The declaration demands “the strictest respect for the principle of non-interference in internal affairs and in our democracy, one of the most robust in the region.”
