Candidate for Mayor of São Paulo said he would have liked to see the same “concern” for Brazil’s democracy in the 2022 elections
Federal deputy and candidate for Mayor of São Paulo Guilherme Boulos (Psol-SP) criticized the Venezuelan government this Wednesday (September 11, 2024) for the way it has dealt with the results of the July elections. “A regime that holds elections without transparency and arrests opponents is not a democratic regime”declared in a debate at Young Pan.
On Sunday (8.Sep), the main opponent of Nicolás Maduro (United Socialist Party of Venezuela, left), Edmundo González (Democratic Unitary Platform, center-right), went into exile in Spain after an arrest warrant from the Justice Department, controlled by allies of the president.
Venezuela lives under an autocracy led by Nicolás Maduro, 61 years old. There is no freedom of the press. People can be arrested for “political crimes”. The OAS published notice in May 2021 (PDF – 179 kB) regarding the “illegitimate appointment” of the National Electoral Council.
THE Inter-American Commission on Human Rights reported abuses in October 2022 (PDF – 150 kB), November 2022 (PDF – 161 kB) and March 2023 (PDF – 151 kB). Report from Human Rights Watch released in 2023 (PDF – 5 MB) states that 7.1 million Venezuelans have fled the country since 2014.
Maduro denies that the country is under a dictatorship. He says that there are regular elections and that the opposition simply cannot win.
Boulos also compared the country’s situation with the Brazilian context of January 8th. He used the topic to criticize journalists from Young Pan who interviewed him.
“I wish that the same concern that some, including here on this station, have with democracy in Venezuela, had been had with Brazil 2 years ago, when the guy who was in the Presidency discredited the electoral system every day, when he tried to turn the tables […] in an attempted coup”he declared.
RELATIONS WITH TARCÍSIO
At another point in the interview, the PSOL candidate stated that he intends to have a good relationship with the governor of the State of São Paulo, Tarcisio de Freitas (Republicans-SP), who is on the opposite side in the dispute and supports the current mayor Ricardo Nunes (MDB).
Boulos said he will follow the example of his political godfather, President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva (PT), who has the governor as an adversary but maintains dialogue with him. To exemplify, he said he will call Tarcísio, Lula and the Minister of Justice, Ricardo Lewandowski, to develop a public security plan for the city if elected.
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