President Lula da Silva will send his former foreign minister and current advisor on international affairs, Celso Amorim, as an observer for the Venezuelan presidential elections
Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva admitted on Monday that he was “scared” when his Venezuelan counterpart, Nicolás Maduro, said that if he loses Sunday’s elections there will be “a bloodbath.”
“I was frightened by that statement,” Lula said in an interview with foreign correspondents, in which he revealed that he had spoken twice with Maduro to warn him that “if he wants to contribute to solving the problem of Venezuela’s growth and the return of those who left, he has to respect the democratic process.”
Lula added that in a democracy, “the one who loses gets a bath of votes, not a bath of blood,” and that “Maduro has to learn that when you win you stay, and when you lose you leave and prepare for other elections.”
According to the Brazilian president, Sunday’s elections will be “the only opportunity” for Venezuela to “return to normality” and for the country to reintegrate into the regional and international community.
“That is what I wish for Venezuela and for all of South America,” he added.
He also said that, in addition to the two observers that the Brazilian electoral court will send, he has decided that his former foreign minister and current advisor on International Affairs, Celso Amorim, will also travel to Venezuela, and will be present at Sunday’s elections.
Lula has always advocated for a elections within the consensus in the Barbados Accords, signed last year, with full participation of the opposition and with results recognized by all.
He also defended the large presence of international observers and expressed his “concern” about the veto of opposition candidate María Corina Machado, who was later replaced as a candidate by former diplomat Edmundo González Urrutia, who polls place as the favorite for Sunday’s elections.
With information from SwissInfo
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