Gabriel Boric criticized Lula’s statements about Venezuela

The president of Chile, Gabriel Boric, said in Brasilia that the situation in Venezuela “is not a construction of a narrative” but “a serious reality”, when leaving at the intersection of the statements of his Brazilian counterpart, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, who yesterday relaunched bilateral relations with President Nicolás Maduro.La rapprochement of Lula with Maduro at the Planalto Palace on Monday set the tone for today’s South American summit, with which the Brazilian tries to relaunch Unasur, to which seven of the 12 countries in the region belong. During his participation in the summit, Boric welcomed Maduro’s return to regional forums, but clarified that Chile will continue to affirm its position on human rights in Venezuela. It is the first opportunity we have to share space with Maduro and we are happy that Venezuela returns and it is in this honest, direct space that we solve the problems, which does not mean turning a blind eye to the problems. There is a discrepancy in the statements of President Lula, it is not a construction of a narrative, it is a serious reality and I saw it in the eyes of Venezuelans who arrived in our country,” he told reporters at a stop of the meeting. Boric said that human rights “must always be respected and everywhere regardless of the political color of the current ruler”: “As a leftist president, it was important to confront Maduro head-on for the first time in an international forum, but we also ask the United States and the European Union to end the sanctions, that weaken the people and not the governments,” he said. Boric said Maduro’s return to regional forums does not mean “sweeping under the rug” human rights problems in Venezuela. He also affirmed that he supported Lula in the creation of a South American forum, although he assured that today no conclusions can be drawn about the possible return of Chile to Unasur.

Original source in Spanish