Maduro arrives in Brasilia on Sunday to meet with Lula

The President of Venezuela, Nicolás Maduro, landed in Brasilia at 9:24 PM on Sunday (May 28, 2023). He is the boss Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva (PT) will participate in a bilateral meeting on Monday (May 29) at 10 am, at the Planalto Palace. After that, the Venezuelan will be received for lunch in Itamaraty.

Maduro landed at Brasília Air Base and was greeted by Ambassador Gisela María Figueiredo Padovan, Secretary for Latin America and the Caribbean in Itamaraty, and Venezuela’s Ambassador to Brazil, Manuel Vicente Fadel Aquino. The Venezuelan President arrived accompanied by First Lady Celia Flores.

This is the first time Maduro has come to Brazil since 2015. In 2019, the former president banned him from entering the country. Jair Bolsonaro (PL), by separating from the neighboring country. But Bolsonaro himself rescinded, on December 30, 2022, the decree that banned members of the Maduro administration from entering the national territory.

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The aim of the annulment was to allow Maduro to come to Brazil to take part in Lula’s inauguration, on January 1, 2023. With the ban falling at the last minute, there was no time for Caracas to organize the presidential delegation.

Since taking office, Lula has resumed diplomatic relations with Venezuela. In January, the government reopened the Brazilian Embassy in Caracas, the capital of Venezuela. The presidential special adviser on international affairs, former chancellor Celso Amorim, visited the city in March and met Maduro. He also held meetings with members of the opposition.

At that time, he said he saw A.J “environment of democracy”. Neither Itamaraty nor Planalto Palace were informed of the visit in advance.

On Tuesday (May 30), Maduro will take part in the meeting with the heads of state of South America. The meeting will be held throughout next Tuesday (30 May) in Itamaraty. Lola will participate in the entire event.

The initiative to invite the heads of 12 countries in the region came from the Brazilian government. Lula will propose to other heads of state the establishment of a new coordination mechanism with the participation of all the countries of the South American continent. The aim is to resume a common deliberation space for regional integration, despite the political differences between governments.

This will be the first meeting with the entire group since 2014, when there was the last meeting of Unasur (Union of South American Nations) with all the countries of the bloc.