Maduro said that Brazil is conspiring against Venezuela and demanded that Lula da Silva explain the veto in the BRICS – Diario La Página –

The dictator of Venezuela, Nicolás Maduro, called on the president of Brazil, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, to speak out on the veto of the Brazilian government that blocked his country’s entry into the BRICS.

“I prefer to wait for Lula to observe, to be well informed of the events and for him, as head of state, to say what he has to say at the time,” said Maduro.

During his weekly program on state television, the Chavista leader avoided holding Lula directly responsible and targeted Brazilian Foreign Ministry officials for the veto that occurred at the BRICS summit last week in Kazan, Russia.

“Itamaraty has been a power within the power of Brazil for many years (…). “He has always conspired against Venezuela,” said Maduro.

“It is a chancellery closely linked to the United States Department of State since the time of the coup against (Brazilian president) Joao Goulart,” in 1964, he added.

An old ally of Maduro and his predecessor, the late Hugo Chávez, Lula has distanced himself from the Venezuelan dictator since his questioned re-election on July 28, which the opposition denounced as fraudulent.

The veto responded to a “breakdown of trust,” according to former Foreign Minister Celso Amorim, Lula’s advisor, to the Brazilian newspaper O Globo.

Amorim maintained that Maduro promised the Brazilian head of state to disseminate the detailed scrutiny of the elections, something that the electoral authority has not yet done.

On Saturday, Venezuelan Attorney General Tarek William Saab cast doubt on a domestic accident suffered by Lula, calling it an “alibi” to justify his absence at the BRICS summit.

“I don’t comment on that issue. It is up to the doctors and President Lula to speak,” Maduro said in this regard.

The BRICS bloc was founded in 2009 with four members: Brazil, China, India and Russia, as opposed to the G7 (Germany, Canada, the United States, France, Italy, Japan and the United Kingdom). South Africa joined in 2010 and Ethiopia, Iran, Egypt and the United Arab Emirates joined this year.

“You have to expect results from your own efforts, never depend on anyone, whatever their name is, whoever they are (…). We do not depend on Brazil for anything, or on anyone,” said Maduro, who predicted that he will continue to insist on Venezuela’s entry into the BRICS. “That’s us, rebels. If they tell us: ‘You can’t go there,’ that’s where I’m going.”