The National Conference of Bishops of Brazil (CNBB) sent a letter to the presidency of the Venezuelan Episcopal Conference expressing solidarity in the face of the current situation in the country, following an attack carried out by the North American government. 
In the document, released on social media, the CNBB assesses the scenario in the neighboring country as a moment marked by tensions, suffering and uncertainties that affect the Venezuelan people.
“We join spiritually in your prayers and pastoral initiatives, expressing our solidarity with the victims of violence, the injured and the bereaved families.”
“As pastors of the Church in Latin America, we share the pain of the suffering people and renew our hope in the strength of the Gospel of unarmed and disarming peace,” the statement concluded.
In the letter, the CNBB cites sincere dialogue, justice and respect for the dignity of the human person and the sovereignty of nations as the only path capable of promoting the common good, in addition to “strengthening democracy and “building a social coexistence marked by reconciliation and lasting peace”.
“May the Holy Spirit continue to sustain the prophetic mission of the Church in Venezuela, granting serenity, wisdom and strength to all and leading the Venezuelan people along the paths of unity and hope.”
Understand
Last Saturday (3), several explosions were recorded in neighborhoods in the Venezuelan capital Caracas. Amid the military attack, orchestrated by the United States, the president of Venezuela, Nicolas Maduro, and his wife Cilia Flores were captured by elite American forces and taken to New York.
The attack marks a new episode of direct North American interventions in Latin America. The last time the United States invaded a Latin American country was in 1989, in Panama, when the military kidnapped then-president Manuel Noriega, accusing him of drug trafficking.
Just as they did with Noriega, the United States accuses Maduro of leading an alleged Venezuelan cartel called De Los Soles, without presenting evidence. Experts in international drug trafficking question the existence of the cartel.
Donald Trump’s government offered a reward of US$50 million for information leading to Maduro’s arrest.
For critics, the action is a geopolitical measure to distance Venezuela from global adversaries of the United States, such as China and Russia, in addition to exerting greater control over the country’s oil, which owns the largest proven oil reserves on the planet.
