Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva and Colombian President Gustavo Petro reaffirmed their call for a negotiated solution to Venezuela s internal crisis. The two leaders arrived in Mexico City to attend the inauguration of Claudia Sheinbaum and to discuss regional stability. Despite the high level talks, their efforts did not gain the momentum they anticipated after July 28 when the National Electoral Council proclaimed Nicolas Maduro the winner in Venezuela and did so without presenting the official tally sheets. The lack of transparent documentation raised questions about the legitimacy of the process and complicated regional diplomacy.
Lula argued that it is necessary to restart a conversation with the Miraflores Palace to return Venezuela to democratic normalcy. He noted his own good relationship with Venezuela and highlighted the 1,600 kilometer border Brazil shares with its neighbor. He said his concern about the crisis goes back a long way, not just to the current moment. The path to resolving the crisis, he added, is regional in scope. The more peace Venezuela enjoys, the more peace there will be in South America.
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Petro, who leads the PT, hoped Lula would meet with Mexico s outgoing president, Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, and did not rule out that they might discuss the issue together with Petro, forming a united front. At present, none of the three governments had formally recognized the outcome announced by the CNE and ratified by the Supreme Court, since the tally sheets were not yet released. The opposition has argued that the true winner of the contest is Edmundo Gonzalez Urrutia, who has been living in exile in Spain for almost three weeks.
It remains unclear whether Maduro will travel to Mexico to participate in Sheinbaum s inauguration. Petro stated that his leftist governments aim to intensify efforts to find a peaceful way out of the Venezuelan crisis and to avoid actions that could worsen tensions.
It was also expected that Petro would meet Lula on the margins of the United Nations General Assembly. The Colombian president was set to discuss the matter during the gathering, but the meeting did not occur. Still, both leaders stressed the importance of resolving the Venezuelan question given its broader impact on Latin America, with Petro noting that their efforts were ongoing.
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Nicolas Maduro, speaking from Caracas, asserted that a plot is unfolding to stage a coup in Colombia to remove Petro from the Palacio de Nariño and establish a government that is entirely opposed to the Miraflores regime. He urged the Colombian people to prevent such an outcome. He also claimed that behind all plans against Venezuela and Petro are the United States and the ultra right, a declaration meant to frame regional tensions within a wider geopolitical dispute.