Popular movements launch manifesto against Itamaraty's position on Venezuela.

Brazil of Fact - Popular movements in Brazil released a statement on Friday (18) condemning Itamaraty's position on the newly installed government of Nicolás Maduro in Venezuela. The text states that the attitude of the Bolsonaro (PSL) government "covers the Brazilian government with indignity and represents a scandalous violation of international law".

In a statement released after a meeting between Foreign Minister Ernesto Araújo and Venezuelan opposition leaders, the Brazilian Foreign Ministry (Itamaraty) asserts that the Maduro government is "based on widespread corruption, drug trafficking, human trafficking, money laundering, and terrorism."

The movements claim that the accusations made are defamatory and without evidence, and that they "reveal the unpreparedness of the new leaders and their unlimited submission to the interests of the White House." The letter of repudiation points out that "the accusations of terrorism and drug trafficking are some of the defamations intended to create in Brazilian and Latin American public opinion a climate favorable to imperialist aggression, of which the Bolsonaro government offers itself as a servile accomplice."

The text, critical of the Bolsonaro government, highlights the advancement of democracy in Venezuela under the Chavista governments: "Since Hugo Chávez took office as president of the country in 1999, there have been 23 national elections or referendums, no opposition party has ever been banned, and the opposition media has continued to exist freely. Unlike the enemies of the people, who, eager to control the oil, have habitually resorted to coup-like and illegal tactics, with terrorist acts, as happened last week when they burned down medicine depots."

Regarding the questioning by the Brazilian government of the elections that led to Maduro's second term, the movements declare that "the elections of May 2018 were monitored by more than 200 international observers, including the former president of the French Senate, Jean-Pierre Bel, and the former president of Spain, José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero."

In addition to the meeting at Itamaraty, Bolsonaro received Miguel Ángel Martín at the Planalto Palace, who calls himself the president of the Supreme Court of Justice in exile. Brazilian movements denounced that, "by attempting to recognize some opposition leaders as an 'interim' or legitimate government," the Bolsonaro government is participating in "an act of usurpation without any legal basis and in defiance of popular sovereignty."

Read the full note:

We support the sovereignty of the Venezuelan people and the constitutional mandate of Nicolás Maduro.

The recent statement from Itamaraty (Brazil's Ministry of Foreign Affairs) regarding the Nicolás Maduro government casts a shadow of indignity upon the Brazilian government and represents a scandalous violation of international law. Its defamatory and baseless accusations expose the unpreparedness of the new leaders and their boundless subservience to the interests of the White House.

Their words are worthless, as they seek to conceal the Venezuelan reality: since Hugo Chávez took office as president in 1999, there have been 23 national elections or referendums, no opposition party has ever been banned, and the opposition media has continued to exist freely. In contrast, the enemies of the people, eager to control the oil, have habitually resorted to coup-like and illegal tactics, including terrorist acts, such as the burning of medicine depots last week.

The governments of Hugo Chávez and Nicolás Maduro never acted outside the bounds of constitutional law.

The May 2018 elections were monitored by more than 200 international observers, including the former Prime Minister of Spain, José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero, the former President of Ecuador, Rafael Correa, the former Brazilian Ambassador, Samuel Pinheiro, and the representative of the Central Election Commission of Russia, Vasili Likhachev, among others.

They also had the participation of the Council of Electoral Experts of Latin America (CEELA), which has been observing the latest elections in Venezuela.

The deceitful and frivolous attacks from the Brazilian Foreign Ministry are, in fact, part of a diplomatic escalation aimed at preparing the conditions for a foreign military intervention.

By recognizing certain leaders of the National Assembly as an “interim government,” the Bolsonaro administration is engaging in an act of usurpation, without any legal basis and in defiance of popular sovereignty. The Brazilian Foreign Ministry (Itamaraty) reveals itself to be subservient to the ambitions of the US government, which has chosen this path to deepen its interference and sabotage against the Venezuelan people.

Accusations of terrorism and drug trafficking are some of the defamatory statements intended to create, in Brazilian and Latin American public opinion, a climate favorable to imperialist aggression, of which the Bolsonaro government offers itself as a servile accomplice.

We all know that the pressure against Venezuela is not for democracy, but rather for the oil reserves, which transnational corporations want to seize.

In light of this outrage, popular movements in the city and the countryside, together with all progressive forces, repudiate this stance of the Brazilian government and call for resistance against any initiative intended to violate the sovereignty, democracy, and economic situation in the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela.

Sao Paulo, January 18, 2019

The following have signed this manifesto:

Central Workers' Union of Brazil – CTB

Unified Workers' Central – CUT

Brazilian Committee for Peace in Venezuela

National Confederation of Metalworkers

Indigenous Missionary Council – CIMI

Unified Federation of Oil Workers – FUP

Popular Youth Uprising

World March of Women – MMM

Movement of People Affected by Dams - MAB

Popular Peasant Movement - MCP

Movement for Popular Sovereignty in Mining – MAM

Movement of Peasant Women – MMC

Small Farmers Movement – ​​MPA

Movement of Fishermen and Fisherwomen – MPP

Landless Workers' Movement – ​​MST

Workers' Movement for Rights – MTD

São Paulo Movement of Solidarity with Cuba

Rural Youth Ministry - PJR

Network of Popular Doctors

ABC Metalworkers Union

Brazilian Women's Union - UBM

Intellectuals and friends of Venezuela:

Breno Altman – Journalist

Claudio Katz – Argentine Intellectual and Economist

Fernando Morais – Writer and Journalist

Horácio Martins de Carvalho – Social Scientist and Agronomist

José Reinaldo Carvalho, journalist, editor of the Resistência website and director of Cebrapaz.

João Pedro Stedile – Via Campesina

Marco Antônio Santos - Psychologist – SP

Olímpio dos Santos - Union of Engineers in the State of Rio de Janeiro

Fr. José Oscar Beozzo - Professor of Church History in Latin America

Roberto Amaral – Writer

Socorro Gomes, president of the World Peace Council