Brazilian, Mexican, Colombian Leaders To Meet With Maduro Amid Reports of Potential Amnesty for Venezuelan Dictator

Presidents Lula, Obrador Lopez, and Petro will hold a virtual meeting with President Maduro this week, according to the Colombian chancellor, Luis Gilberto Murillo.The Brazilian, Mexican, and Colombian heads of state are some of the few who have not explicitly denounced the results of the July 28 elections, after which Mr. Maduro is claiming an “irreversible” victory. The scheduled meeting between the four presidents comes after reports that Mr. Maduro and other top Venezuelan officials may be granted amnesty by the American government if he leaves power peacefully before his term is up in January.Mr. Murillo said he wants the meeting to happen “as soon as possible”; iit has not yet taken place due to reported scheduling difficulties.A senior fellow for Latin America at Atlas Network, Roberto Salinas, tells the Sun that Brazil, Mexico, and Colombia are under a great deal of pressure to admit Mr. Maduro’s election fraud and acknowledge Edmundo González as the true victor.“So far, their response has been lukewarm,” Mr. Salinas said. “The three countries’ leaders are in a nasty dilemma, as all have been friendly to Maduro, yet none want to be seen associated with such a flagrant display of violence, repression, and outright authoritarianism.”President Lula and his colleagues may fan the idea of a peaceful op-out for Mr. Maduro. They will hope that he exits “either quietly or in a facade with lots of accolades for being democratic,” Mr. Salinas added.The Biden administration has said that electoral manipulation has stripped Venezuela’s election results of any credibility, and has also demanded transparency.The three presidents have already held a meeting on August 1 to discuss the political upheaval in Venezuela, and said in a joint statement that the country should “move ahead quickly and let itemized ballot box level results be known publicly.”They also expressed an “absolute respect for the sovereignty of the will of the Venezuelan people,” saying that they do not condone any action that goes against human rights. Following the election, President Lula, who has historically supported Mr. Maduro, said he is “convinced” that the elections in Venezuela followed a completely “normal” procedure, Globonews reported.His left-leaning Partido dos Trabalhadores party claimed that the Venezuelan elections were a “journey” characterized by peace, democratic principles, and popular sovereignty.It is “important that President Nicolas Maduro, now re-elected, continues dialogue with the opposition, in order to overcome the serious problems in Venezuela, largely caused by illegal sanctions,” the party said. “We are certain that the National Electoral Council, which declared the victory of President Nicolas Maduro, will give respectful treatment to all appeals it receives, within the deadlines and terms provided for in the Constitution of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela,” it added.One likely outcome of the meeting could be that the heads of state “call for a new election. Maduro still clings to the claim that Musk orchestrated a cyber-attack on the electoral bodies counting votes,” Mr. Salinas said.This would be rejected by the opposition, he added. Since Mr. Maduro claimed his disputed election win, the country has exploded in protests, and the Venezuelan government has pulled its emissaries from several Latin American countries, including Argentina, Chile, Peru, and Uruguay. Leaders of these countries have denied or expressed skepticism over the election results, with the Venezuelan government saying it “expresses its firm repudiation in the face of the actions of interference and statements” of these presidents of “right-wing governments.”

Brazilian, Mexican, Colombian Leaders To Meet With Maduro Amid Reports of Potential Amnesty for Venezuelan Dictator

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