The president of Brazil, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, revealed that he was startled to hear Nicolás Maduro say that if he loses the elections next Sunday in Venezuela, there will be "a bloodbath" in his country.
"I was shocked by that statement," Lula told the EFE agency.
The Brazilian president said that he spoke twice with Maduro and warned him that "if he wants to help solve the problem of Venezuela's growth and the return of those who left, he must respect the democratic process."
Lula clarified that, in democracy, "the one who loses takes a shower of votes, not a shower of blood," and that "Maduro has to learn that when one wins, they stay, and when they lose, they leave and prepare for other elections." In the opinion of the leader of the Workers' Party, the elections on Sunday will be "the only opportunity" for Venezuela to "return to normalcy" and for the country to reintegrate into the regional and international community.
"That is what I wish for Venezuela and for all of South America," he specified.
Lula has requested full participation of the opposition in the process and expressed his "concern" over the veto against María Corina Machado, who was then replaced as a candidate by former diplomat Edmundo González Urrutia, who is favored in the polls.
He has also defended that the results be recognized by all parties, and for this reason, he insists on a broad presence of international observers, and for this reason, he will send two members of Brazil's electoral justice and his former chancellor and current International Affairs advisor, Celso Amorim.
This is not the first time that Maduro has made threats of this kind. Last February, he claimed that in this presidential election his team would win "by fair means or foul."
Her maneuvers prevented former deputy María Corina Machado, the main figure of the opposition, from running as a candidate due to a 15-year prohibition from holding public office imposed by the Comptroller in 2015 and reaffirmed by the Supreme Court in January.
Once Machado's disqualification was achieved, the National Electoral Council (CNE) of Venezuela, controlled by the government, announced the presidential elections for next July 28, recalling the "mega elections" of 2000.
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