Lula asked Trump to let Venezuelans solve their problems

Rio de Janeiro.- The President of Brazil, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, stated this Thursday that he asked his US counterpart, Donald Trump, to let the Venezuelans solve their own problems.

"I told Trump that those who have to solve Venezuela's problems are the Venezuelans. I don't know if Delcy (Rodríguez, the interim president of Venezuela) will call elections or not, but they have to solve their problems," said the progressive leader in an interview he gave to the UOL television channel. The Brazilian ruler added that the message he conveyed to Trump is that Latin America is a zone of peace that has no nuclear bombs or warmongering interests, and that its only interest is to promote economic growth and improve the living conditions of the population. The leader, a former ally of Venezuelan presidents Hugo Chávez and Nicolás Maduro, stated that Brazil's main concern is not the possible return of Maduro to Venezuela but respect for democracy in the neighboring country.

«Our main concern is whether there are possibilities to strengthen democracy in Venezuela and for the 8.4 million Venezuelans who left the country to return», the president stated about his government's position regarding the neighboring country.

Criticism of US Military Intervention

Lula added that Brazil is interested in the real respect for democracy in Venezuela, in which the population can actively participate, in which the Government improves the quality of life of the population, and in which the state oil company Petróleos de Venezuela (PDVSA) returns to producing as it did before the crisis. The progressive leader was one of the first to condemn the United States' military attack against Venezuela on January 3rd, which culminated in the capture of Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores. Last week, in his speech at an economic forum in Panama, the Brazilian ruler strongly criticized the lack of a unified response from the region to the US military intervention in Venezuela.

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The Brazilian president stated that he will address the Venezuela issue again in the first week of March, when he will travel to Washington to meet with Trump and "have a face-to-face conversation". He added that there are no forbidden topics in the conversation he will have with the American president, and that the only thing he will not discuss in the meeting will be about the sovereignty of Brazil, "which is sacred." "What I have told Trump is that we are two human beings with 80 years and presidents of the two largest democracies in the West, so we have to sit down and see what interests each country, to establish agreements in which we can work together. There are no forbidden topics to discuss," he said.