Lula expects Venezuela and Brazil to normalize their diplomatic relations in March

The President of Brazil, Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, defended dialogue on Monday as the only solution to the Venezuelan crisis and said that he hopes for a return to diplomatic normality between Brazil and Venezuela within two monthsafter a meeting between the presidents of both countries scheduled for the afternoon was cancelled.

Lula and his Venezuelan counterpart Nicolas Maduro They planned to meet in Buenos Aires on the sidelines of the summit of the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (CELAC), but the president of Venezuela canceled his trip to the Argentine capital.

In Caracas, the Venezuelan government said it had decided to send its foreign minister Yvan Gil as head of the delegation, after learning of an alleged “plan drawn up in the bosom of the right” and “a series of attacks” against Maduro. He did not give details.

The Venezuelan government frequently denounces plans for attacks or attacks against the president or the infrastructure of services such as electricity.

In statements with the Argentine president, Alberto FernandezLula said that the meeting “will be left for another opportunity.”

The Brazilian president defended Maduro and said that he hopes that bilateral relations between Brazil and Venezuela will resume in the next two months, with the opening of embassies in both countries.

“Brazil is going to restore diplomatic relations with Venezuela. We want Venezuela to have an embassy in Brazil, for Brazil to have an embassy in Venezuela and we are going to establish a civilized relationship between two autonomous, free and independent states,” he said.

Diplomatic ties between the two countries were severed in 2020 under the government of Brazil’s far-right former president Jair Bolsonaro.

Venezuela faces sanctions from the United States and the European Union since the opponent Juan Guaido was recognized by the United States and Western allies as the legitimate leader of the country for considering that Maduro’s re-election in 2018 was a fraud.

“To solve the problem of Venezuela, dialogue is needed, not blockades. It will be resolved with dialogue and not with threats of occupation,” said Lula, who again criticized the economic embargo imposed by the United States on Cuba.