Venezuela calls its ambassador in Brazil for consultations; accuses Lula da Silva’s advisor of “aggression” for statements about elections

( Spanish) – The Government of Venezuela summoned Brazil’s chargé d’affaires and its ambassador, Manuel Vadell, this Wednesday to express its rejection of the statements made by Brazilian special advisor on foreign affairs Celso Amorim, the Venezuelan Foreign Ministry reported in a statement.

“He has impertinently dedicated himself to issuing value judgments on processes that only correspond to Venezuelans and their democratic institutions, which constitutes constant aggression,” the letter described.

is trying to contact the Brazilian Foreign Ministry to find out its response to these accusations. So far, the institution has not commented on this matter.

Amorim, a career diplomat who was previously Minister of Foreign Affairs during the presidencies of Itamar Franco (1993-1994) and Lula da Silva (2003-2010), as well as head of Defense under Dilma Rousseff (2011-2014), is one of the most influential officials in Brazilian foreign policy of the current Da Silva Government. From this position, in addition to being sent by Brasilia to try to mediate in the Venezuelan political crisis, he has had contacts with other governments to discuss the post-electoral situation in Venezuela.

The Brazilian Government has not recognized the victory of President Nicolás Maduro, which the National Electoral Council (CNE) of Venezuela announced after the July 28 elections (without showing the detailed results by state and voting center), and vetoed the incorporation of Venezuela to the BRICS at the recent summit held in Russia.

On Tuesday, in a session with legislators from his country, Amorim said that Brazil opposed Venezuela’s entry into the BRICS because there is “unrest” over how the Venezuelan electoral process was carried out. “I hope it can be dissolved as things normalize,” Amorim said, as reported by Brasil, a affiliate.

A week ago, on October 21, Amorim told Brazil: “I do not defend the entry of Venezuela. I think you have to go slowly. There is no point in filling (the BRICS) with countries, otherwise a new G-77 will soon be created.”

In a separate statement, the president of the National Assembly of Venezuela, Jorge Rodríguez, announced that he will request that Amorim be declared persona non grata, which would imply that he would be banned from any visit to the country.