Maduro asks Alcolumbre for help to reopen the Brazil-Venezuela border.

Ricardo Brito, Reuters - Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro sent a letter to the President of the Federal Senate and the National Congress, Davi Alcolumbre (DEM-AP), in which he asks for the Brazilian parliamentarian's support to reestablish "a friendly and respectful bilateral relationship" between the two countries and reopen the Venezuelan border with the state of Roraima, according to a copy of the letter obtained by Reuters.

Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro 12/04/2019 Miraflores Palace/Press Release via REUTERS
The correspondence was delivered to Alcolumbre this Wednesday by Senator Telmário Motta (Pros) from Roraima, who met with Maduro in Caracas on Monday. Telmário is the president of the temporary subcommittee on Venezuela in the Senate's Foreign Relations Committee.

Maduro's border closure has been in effect since February 23rd and has prevented the entry of humanitarian aid organized by the United States and supported by Jair Bolsonaro's government. This blockade has caused millions of dollars in daily losses to commerce in the border city of Pacaraima, where Venezuelans used to come to stock up on food and consumer goods.

In the letter to Davi Alcolumbre, with a sworn translation, Nicolás Maduro begins by saying that Venezuela is "permanently threatened by the United States government with a military intervention, while at the same time imposing a severe, arbitrary and unjust blockade on our economy, with the aim of forcing a change of government by force."

Maduro says that President Jair Bolsonaro has "regrettably" broken with the tradition of harmonious, fraternal, and respectful relations by adopting "an unfriendly policy towards Venezuela and its constitutional government, systematically violating the sacred principle of non-interference in the internal affairs of states."

SENATE SPOKESPERSON

The President of Venezuela is asking the Brazilian Senate to act as a spokesperson for his government's interests in order to "reestablish a friendly and respectful bilateral relationship between our nations."

Maduro considered the creation of a Senate subcommittee to monitor the situation in Venezuela and its relations with Brazil to be "very positive," citing Telmário's meeting with him and other members of the government.

According to the Venezuelan leader, after speaking with Telmario, he decided to work towards "reopening the border crossings, under clear rules to be agreed upon by both parties, in a constructive spirit of cooperation, good neighborliness, and economic complementarity."

"For this reason, I request your Excellency's support in establishing a binational working group, with the participation of the Brazilian Senate, to implement rules of coexistence and respect that will allow us to reopen the border, as a shared gesture of goodwill," he says.

In the letter, Maduro mentions the advantages of normalization and seeks to demonstrate goodwill.

"Senator Temário Mota has expressed to me that the healthy reestablishment of our commercial, economic, human, and cultural exchange is of particular interest to the State of Roraima," says the Venezuelan president.

"Likewise, I have ordered that every effort be made to overcome the adversities caused by the criminal attack on our national electrical system, in order to restore, as quickly as possible, our cooperation on electrical energy matters with the State of Roraima, as has always been my wish. You and all of Brazil can count on my dedicated commitment to these decisions," he concludes.

At the end of the letter, the President of Venezuela reiterates to the President of the Senate and all Brazilian state institutions "our desire to return to the path of bilateral relations based on cooperation, complementarity, and mutual respect, for the benefit of our peoples."

For him, "no ideological or political difference can stand above the peace and unity of the peoples of our Latin America and the Caribbean."

"I am certain that we will succeed in neutralizing the ambitions for war and the desire for confrontation, so that together we can resume the path of harmony and the shared development of our brotherly peoples," he concludes.

Telmário's meeting with Maduro was criticized by Bolsonaro's supporters. Congresswoman Carla Zambelli (PSL-SP) released a letter of repudiation, deeming it "unacceptable" that a Brazilian senator would publicly support Maduro's "criminal and totalitarian regime."

"Maduro, with his communist policies, has achieved his goal: all Venezuelans are equally miserable, malnourished, and destitute," she criticized. "Finally, we reaffirm our support for the Brazilian government's decision to recognize Juan Guaidó as the legitimate president of Venezuela."