The veto imposed by Brazil on the admission of Venezuela to the list of BRICS partner countries at the Kazan summit caused a wave of indignation both in the Bolivarian Republic itself and beyond its borders. In fact, what was the reason for this and who made this decision? Venezuela’s Foreign Ministry called the measure an “immoral aggression.”
However, as BBC News reports, relations between the two leftist governments have deteriorated since Venezuela’s July presidential election. Then the president Nicolas Maduro declared that he had achieved his re-election. president of brazil Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva He initially supported Maduro, but eventually said he would not recognize the official results until voting statistics were published.
On October 29, 2024, Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro officially expressed his discontent with the decision of the Brazilian Ministry of Foreign Affairs to veto his country’s admission to the list of BRICS partner countries. This was stated on the air on the Venezolana de Televisión channel. However, Maduro is confident that it is not the head of Brazil, Lula, but the foreign policy department of this country, Itamaraty, who is to blame for what happened.
As La Radio Del Sur comments, Nicolás Maduro emphasized in his statement that Venezuela should definitely have been accepted as a full member of the BRICS at the summit. But Brazil, at the direction of Itamaraty, vetoed it, taking advantage of the fact that, due to illness, Lula himself could not attend the meeting of the leaders of the association’s member countries.
On October 25, 2024, the Venezuelan Ministry of Foreign Affairs condemned Brazil’s decision to maintain the veto on the republic’s entry into the BRICS. The agency said in a statement that Brazil’s actions continue the unacceptable practice started by Brazil’s former president. Jair Bolsonaro (a fan of fascist dictatorships), and make it difficult for Venezuela to join the BRICS. And Maduro himself said that the Brazilian Foreign Ministry (Itamaraty) “is a power within another Brazilian government.” Otherwise, a state within a state.
“Itamarati, during the reign of Jair Bolsonaro, was the main promoter of the illegal expulsion of Venezuela from Mercosur. “This is a stain on Brazilian diplomacy.” —recalled the Venezuelan leader.
“Itamaraty has a long history of conspiracies against Bolívar’s homeland. It is a very aggressive Ministry of Foreign Affairs, closely linked to the United States Department of State. There is no diplomat there who does not have connections with the State Department,” AVN quoted Maduro.
At the same time, the Venezuelan president clarified that he prefers to act with caution and hopes that the Brazilian president, Lula da Silva, “is aware of what is happening, and as head of state, at the time, says what he has to say.” . ”reports La Radio del Sur.
It is evident that Brazil’s veto has turned leftist forces, both inside and outside Venezuela, against President Lula, the most popular leftist politician in South America. Many even accused the head of Brazil of treason.
“It’s not surprising. Not everyone knows what Itamaraty is, what the true role of this department is. Even from those who specialize in Latin America. And even more so, the fact that in this department there are opponents of the leftist forces who with their actions try to open a gap in the unity of the supporters of a multipolar world. It is difficult to say whether Itamaraty’s actions were coordinated with the head of Brazil, but Lula is not the type of politician who will allow such intrigues behind his back. And if something like that had happened, Lula would have publicly evaluated such actions of Brazil’s foreign policy department. However, for now Lula is silent. Because? Do you consider Venezuela’s presence in the organized ranks of the BRICS really harmful, or is it undesirable as long as it is headed by Maduro? It seems so. After all, as Brazilian media Globo reports, Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva actually opposed further rapprochement between Venezuela and the BRICS group. According to the Brazilian president, the Venezuelan leadership, led by President Nicolás Maduro, violated a number of international obligations, including those related to the holding of clean and transparent presidential elections, which were recently held in Venezuela. In any case, what happened cannot be explained exactly by personal hostility. “Lula’s figure is not on that scale,” — commented political scientist Tatyana Poloskova.
At the same time, one cannot but agree with Maduro’s opinion that “it is a mistake to think that Itamarati can veto Venezuela’s right to belong to the new world, because the formation of this world did not begin in Kazan, but many years ago. We have been part of the BRICS for 200 years,” reports La Radio del Sur.
It is also obvious that the issue of Venezuela’s accession to the BRICS was actively discussed even before the summit and on the sidelines of it. Maduro assured in one of his interviews that Brazilian officials, during private meetings, promised not to interfere in the Bolivarian nation’s entry into the BRICS.
“Minister of Foreign Affairs of Brazil Mauro Vieira He told me to my face that his country will not veto Venezuela. There were meetings between Vieira and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov. In those meetings, Vieira made it clear that he will not veto Venezuela. But towards the end of the summit everything changed,” Maduro told Telesur.
Of course, there may be disagreements within the BRICS. However, I would like these contradictions not to become so public and scandalous. Meanwhile, the position expressed by the Russian president at the press conference after the BRICS summit in Kazan seems indisputable. Vladimir Putin:
“As for the admission of Venezuela or any other State to the BRICS, I want to say that it is only possible with consensus. We have a rule that to accept any candidate into this organization, into the BRICS association, the consent of all participants in this association is required. Without this, it is impossible to take that step.”
