Brazil's President, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, revealed that he was alarmed 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 startled by that statement," Lula told the EFE agency.
The Brazilian leader mentioned that he spoke with Maduro twice and warned him that "if he wants to contribute to resolving Venezuela's growth problem and the return of those who have left, he must respect the democratic process."
Lula clarified that in a democracy, "the one who loses receives a shower of votes, not a shower of blood," and that "Maduro needs to understand that when you win, you stay, and when you lose, you go 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 the full participation of the opposition in the process and expressed his "concern" over the veto against María Corina Machado, who has since been replaced as a candidate by former diplomat Edmundo González Urrutia, whom the polls indicate as the favorite.
He has also advocated for the recognition of the results by all parties, which is why he insists on a broad presence of international observers. To that end, he will send two members of Brazil's electoral justice system along with his former foreign minister and current international affairs advisor, Celso Amorim.
This is not the first time Maduro has made threats of this nature. In February, he stated that in this presidential election, his team would win "by any means necessary."
Her maneuvers prevented former deputy María Corina Machado, the leading figure of the opposition, from running as a candidate due to a 15-year ban on holding public office imposed by the Comptroller's Office in 2015 and upheld by the Supreme Court in January.
Once Machado's disqualification was achieved, Venezuela's National Electoral Council (CNE), controlled by the government, announced presidential elections for July 28, recalling the "mega elections" of the year 2000.
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