Itamaraty says that Brazilian position follows criteria and principles

The Venezuelan government stated that Brazil vetoed the Caribbean country’s entry into the Brics bloc and said that the act was an aggression. Itamaraty, however, maintains that the group only defined the criteria and principles for new memberships. During this week, the countries that could join the group as an associate member were defined in Kazan, Russia, but Venezuela was left out.

“The Venezuelan people feel indignation and shame at this inexplicable and immoral aggression by Brazilian diplomacy (Itamaraty), maintaining the worst of Jair Bolsonaro’s policies against the Bolivarian Revolution founded by commander Hugo Chávez”, stated, in a statement, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Venezuelan.

Brazil has diplomatically distanced itself from Venezuela after the election on July 28 this year that resulted in the re-election of President Nicolás Maduro. The election was contested by the opposition, international organizations and countries, including Brazil, due to the fact that electoral data by polling table had not been presented.

Maduro is interested in joining BRICS and participated in the 16th summit held this week in Russia, having met with President Vladmir Putin. When questioned at a press conference this Thursday (24), Putin said that he respects Brazil’s position in relation to the Venezuelan election, despite not agreeing.

“I sincerely hope that Brazil and Venezuela resolve their bilateral relations during the bilateral discussion. I know President Lula as a very decent and honest person and I am sure he will approach this situation from an objective position. And he asked me to convey a few words to the president of Venezuela during our telephone conversation. I hope the situation improves,” said Putin, adding that the inclusion of new countries only occurs by consensus of the group’s full members.

Itamaraty explained that it does not defend the inclusion of one country or another, but that it defended the creation of criteria and principles that guide the choice of new Brics members. According to the Secretary of Asia and the Pacific of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MRE), Ambassador Eduardo Paes Saboia, among the criteria are the defense of UN reform, the non-acceptance of unilateral economic sanctions, in addition to having friendly relations with all countries members.

The coordinator of the research group on Brics at PUC in Rio de Janeiro, professor Maria Elena Rodríguez, assessed that Brazil’s position was coherent since relations between the two countries are not friendly at the moment.

“We do not have a friendly relationship with Venezuela at the moment. We do not have a friendly relationship with Nicaragua, which is another country that had expressed interest in joining the BRICS. This is a fundamental point. You cannot have two countries in the bloc with which you do not have a good relationship”, he assessed.

In August this year, Brazil and Nicaragua expelled their respective ambassadors after disagreements related to friction between the governments. At the request of Pope Francis, Brazil had been trying to mediate with Nicaragua the release of a bishop imprisoned in the country, which would not have pleased Daniel Ortega’s government.