Jamil Chad Lula gives up on Maduro on duty; ceremony will break the record of world leaders 23/12/2022 04h00

Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro will not be there when Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (PT) takes over the Brazilian Presidency on January 1, 2023. The Venezuelan has already been briefed and understood the situation, according to sources at Itamaraty and experienced by the PT. Despite this, the inauguration ceremony of the new Brazilian president will have a record attendance of foreign leaders, and about 30 have already been confirmed.

Lula’s aim was to ensure that all of South America was his property, a symbolic return to Brazil’s leading role in the region. Until last night, almost all presidents of neighboring countries had confirmed their presence. Peru, which is experiencing an institutional crisis, has yet to reveal how it will be represented.

What’s behind Maduro’s absence?

• In the case of Venezuela, the obstacle is a decision by Jair Bolsonaro to prevent Nicolás Maduro and his advisers from setting foot on Brazilian soil. As a result, the team that traditionally travels to the country prior to the president’s arrival cannot make the trip or prepare for the trip.
• For Maduro to be in Brasilia on January 1, Planalto Palace will have to make a new decision on the same day, making the operation impossible.
• The transition team tried to negotiate with the Bolsonaro government to change the decision. But the request was denied.

How did Maduro react? According to diplomatic sources, Maduro has shown that he understands the situation. In Caracas, expectations are that Lula’s arrival will restore institutional relations and reopen Brazilian embassies and consulates on Venezuelan territory.

In a document released Thursday, the Lula government’s transition team criticized Bolsonaro’s isolation of Maduro.

By adopting an ideological approach to regional debates and trying to isolate the Venezuelan government, Bolsonaro could have turned South America into a battleground between powers, each seeking its own hegemony in the region.

“Brazil made a strategic mistake by betting on Venezuela’s isolation, turning South America into the scene of the geopolitical dispute between the US, Russia and China. The country has become an element of regional instability from a catalyst for integration processes,” he concluded. .

The foreign entity wants to protect the property. Despite not being able to reunite all of South America, Lula’s inauguration will go down in the country’s democratic history as the largest number of foreign leaders to attend. Nearly 30 presidents and heads of government, along with ministers and special envoys, have confirmed their participation, according to those involved in the protocol operation.

Even if the number does not increase further, it will represent a presence three times more than foreign leaders attended Jair Bolsonaro’s inauguration. At that time, defenders of the far right, such as the Hungarian Viktor Orban, were present.

This time, the foreign presence aims to preserve the inauguration ceremony, signal the international recognition of the electoral process in Brazil, and send a message of condemnation to any attempt at institutional rupture in the country.