Gabriel Boric said Tuesday that the human rights situation in Venezuela is a “serious reality” and not a “narrative construction”, as his Brazilian counterpart, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, pointed out the day before.
“I respectfully stated that I had a discrepancy with what President Lula said yesterday (…) It is not a narrative construction, it is a serious reality,” said the former student leader at a press point within the framework of the regional summit to be held celebrates in Brasilia this Tuesday.
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“I have had the opportunity to see (that reality) in the eyes and in the pain of hundreds of thousands of Venezuelans who are in our homeland today and who also demand a firm and clear position,” he added.
Unlike other progressive leaders in the region, Boric has been very critical of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro, but he has always questioned the economic sanctions against the South American country and this Tuesday he urged the United States and the European Union to withdraw them so that ” the Venezuelan people can get ahead”.
This Tuesday’s summit, organized by Lula and attended by eleven other regional leaders, marks the first face-to-face between Boric and Maduro.
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“We are happy that Venezuela returns to multilateral instances because we believe that problems are resolved in these spaces and not with statements where we only attack each other,” Boric said.
However, he added: “That cannot mean sweeping under the rug or turning a blind eye to issues that are important principles for us,” such as the defense of human rights.
Despite the criticism,
Boric is trying to normalize relations with Venezuela and last week appointed Jaime Gazmuri as the new ambassador in Caracas, a position that had been empty since 2018.
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In addition to Boric and Maduro, the meeting called by Lula is also attended by the presidents of Argentina, Alberto Fernández; Bolivia, Luis Arce; Colombia, Gustavo Petro; Ecuador, Guillermo Lasso; Guyana, Irfaan Ali; Paraguay, Mario Abdo Benitez; Suriname, Chan Santokhi, and Uruguay, Luis Lacalle Pou.
Although the sessions are behind closed doors and there is no official broadcast, the President of Uruguay, Luis Lacalle Pou, also criticized Lula’s statements and, in a video that he posted on his social networks with part of his speech, urged not to “cover the sun with one finger”. EFE
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