The president of Brazil, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, raised his tone for the first time before the Venezuelan government of Nicolás Maduro for the exclusion of the main opposition candidate in the presidential elections, by issuing this Thursday (02/28/2024) a strong condemnation along with his French counterpart Emmanuel Macron.
In a joint press conference in Brasilia at the close of a three-day state visit by Macron, Lula described as “serious” the exclusion of the candidate designated by opposition leader María Corina Machado to face Maduro on July 28.
“There is no legal or political explanation” why he could not do it, said the leftist, who declared himself “surprised” by the news.
“I don’t want anything better or worse for Venezuela, I want the elections to be held like in Brazil, with the participation of everyone,” said the president.
At the Planalto Palace, the Brazilian progressive leader recalled that he met with the Venezuelan head of state and candidate for re-election, Nicolás Maduro, on the sidelines of recent international summits, and told him that “the most important thing was to restore normality and not have problems in the electoral process.
Venezuela closed the candidate registration period last Monday without the main opposition coalition, Democratic Unitary Platform (PUD), managing to register its standard bearer Corina Yoris.
Macron condemned the exclusion of “a serious and credible candidate”
Macron, for his part, “very firmly condemned the exclusion of a serious and credible candidate” and urged “restore” her the possibility of participating in the elections.
Yoris, an 80-year-old academic, could not access the registration system, which was blocked, according to the PUD.
After verifying this impossibility, the main Venezuelan opposition alliance managed to register a provisional candidate, Edmundo González Urrutia.
Maduro, who hopes to remain in power for 18 years, registered his candidacy on Monday.
Loepoldo López Party: “Maduro is alone”
In Venezuela, the opposition party Voluntad Popular (VP), led by politician Leopoldo López, said that Maduro is “alone” after learning of the statements of the leftist Brazilian president.
«Maduro, you are alone. Not even your closest allies can defend your madness and dictatorial attacks. The world is not going to tolerate another attack on the popular will,” said the political party on social network X.
The foreign ministries of Brazil and Colombia this week expressed “concern” about the development of the Venezuelan electoral process.
Both Lula and Colombian President Gustavo Petro are considered leaders close to the Maduro government.
Venezuela reacted by calling them “interferencers.”
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