Lula: “No president” should make assumptions about Venezuela’s future
Without mentioning President Donald Trump, Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva stood up for Venezuela and Cuba amid growing pressure from the US against Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro’s government.
“Everyone says we’re going to turn Brazil into Venezuela. Brazil will never be Venezuela, and Venezuela will never be Brazil. Each will be itself. We believe the Venezuelan people are in charge of their own destiny, and no president of another country should make assumptions about what Venezuela or Cuba will be like,” President Lula said at an event held by the Communist Party of Brazil (PCdoB) in Brasília.
Brazil, along with most Latin American countries, had already expressed concern about Washington’s military movements in Caribbean waters.
The Brazilian president spoke a day after Trump confirmed he had authorized the CIA to conduct covert operations in Venezuela to overthrow the government in Caracas – which is a violation of international law and the United Nations Charter.
Lula also condemned Cuba’s continued inclusion on the list of countries that sponsor terrorism.
“What we say publicly is that Cuba is not a country that exports terrorists. Cuba is an example of people and dignity,” he declared.
Since the 1960s, the US has been trying to change Cuba’s political system by imposing an economic and financial embargo that punishes companies and ships that trade with the Caribbean island.
With the start of the new Trump administration, measures against Cuba have been reinforced, including threats against nations that contract medical services from the island – one of the country’s few sources of income. Cuba is experiencing an economic crisis with recurring power outages.
Venezuela
Since August, the US has been sending thousands of military personnel, warships, and aircraft to the Caribbean under the pretext of combating drug trafficking from Venezuela. According to the US media, the US Army has launched six attacks on ships, killing more than 30 people.
The Maduro government claims that the US is seeking to bring about “regime change” and promises to denounce these actions before the United Nations Security Council.
According to experts consulted by Agência Brasil, the US’ interest in Venezuela is geopolitical in nature, considering that the country has the largest oil reserves on the planet and does not have any drug-producing cartels.
