The president immediately commented on the Russian invasion and the Hamas attack, but it took 23 days before he asked Maduro for “common sense.”
President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (PT) delivered an eloquent statement on the main international tensions in the first year of his third term in office. But unlike the war between Russia and Ukraine and the conflict between Hamas and Israel, the PT member rarely spoke publicly and, in the cases of Venezuela and Guyana, in a cautious tone.
Lula if pronounced on the day Russia invaded Ukraine in 2022: “No one can agree to war and military attacks by one country against another.” War only leads to destruction, despair and hunger. People need to come to their senses and resolve their differences at the negotiating table, not on battlefields.”
In the case of the Hamas attack on Israel, despite condemning the “terrorist attacks” on the first day, the PT member did not name the perpetrator of the attacks, the Hamas group. This didn't happen until 4 days later. Then, on November 13, when 22 Brazilians staying in the Gaza Strip and their 10 Palestinian family members arrived in Brasília, the president stepped up his criticism of Israel.
Lula compared the Israeli response to Hamas to acts of terrorism due to the three deaths of Palestinian civilians. The extremist group's actions were classified as terrorist by the president in seven speeches.
From the beginning of the conflict on October 7th to November 16th, the PT member spoke publicly 183 times. In it he talked about the war in 38 possibilities. It was average one statement per day about the topic.
To speak slowly
In the case of tensions between Venezuela and Guyana, the scenario is different. It took Lula 23 days to comment on the case after Nicolás Maduro announced a referendum on November 10 on the creation of the state of Essequibo, now part of Guyana.
It was only on December 3, when the Brazilian armed forces were already taking measures to strengthen the border with the two countries, that the president publicly commented on the issue. He said he expected “common sense” from Venezuela and Guyana to ease tensions.
“If there's one thing that South America doesn't need right now, it's confusion,” Lula told reporters in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, where he was attending COP28, the United Nations climate change conference. “You can’t keep thinking about fighting. I hope that common sense prevails on the part of Venezuela and Guyana,” he added.
On the same day, Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro said that Venezuelan voters had voted for measures that could lead to the annexation of 74% of Guyana's territory. According to the country's electoral authority, more than 95% of people approved the five referendum questions establishing the state of Essequibo.
Lula did not publicly comment on the issue again until December 7, at the opening of the 63rd Summit of Mercosur Heads of State and Government at the Museum of Tomorrow in Rio.
He said he did not want war in South America amid escalating tensions between Venezuela and Guyana, which border Brazil's northern region.
Lula made this statement without condemning the bellicose stance of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro, who had already declared that 74% of Guyana's territory would be annexed by his country. The Venezuelan head of state even presented a new map showing the area that now belongs to the neighboring country.
The president said Brazil was following Venezuela's initiatives with “growing concern” and that Mercosur could not “stay away from this situation.”
Silence is uncomfortable
Despite the behindthescenes work of Brazilian diplomacy brokering talks between the two countries to prevent armed conflict in the region, the lack of a public statement on Maduro's annexation of part of Guyana bothered the armed forces.
The military compares it to the president's words about the wars in Ukraine and Gaza. They say the local conflict is the only one that can pose risks for Brazil.
Lula stated that he intends to visit Guyana in 2024. He will attend the Caricom (Common Market and Caribbean Community) Summit scheduled to take place in February. “I want to take part because these are things I want to talk about: democracy, financing,” he said.
The PT member and the Venezuelan are allies. In May, Lula even said that many criticisms of the regime in Venezuela, which is considered a dictatorship, were “narratives”. The speech was delivered during Maduro's visit to Brazil when he accepted the honor of head of state.
THE CONFLICT
The dispute between the countries, which has been going on for more than a century, is related to the Essequibo or Guayana Essequiba region. Following the result, the Venezuelan government must decide on strategies to annex the territory.
Essequibo has an area of 160,000 km² and is administered by Guyana. The area accounts for 74% of the neighboring country's area, is rich in oil and minerals and has access to the Atlantic Ocean.
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STORY
The first settlers in the region were the Spanish, who came to the region in 1499. In the 16th century, Guyana came under Dutch control. According to the USP (University of São Paulo) Contemporary Portal of Latin America and the Caribbean, the Dutch believed that El Dorado could be in the region a legend says that there was a city there where gold was plentiful.
In 1616 the first Dutch fortress was built in Essequibo. The place was also intended to serve as a trading post and be administered by the Dutch West India Company. The then Dutch colony began to use the export of sugar and tobacco as an economic basis.
With the introduction of an extensive irrigation system in the 18th century, Guyana expanded the amount of agricultural land, which attracted English settlers from Caribbean islands.
At the end of the 18th century, the population of British origin in the region outnumbered the Dutch. With the French Revolution and France's expansion in Europe, the Dutch decided to hand over part of their colonies to English administration to protect themselves from possible French intervention. .
In 1814, the colonies of Essequiba, Demerara and Berbice were officially transferred to England through the AngloDutch Treaty. The territory was renamed British Guiana in 1931. The country declared independence in 1966, but remained part of the British Commonwealth a group of former British colonies.
TIRES
The 60yearold President of Venezuela, Nicolás Maduro, heads an autocratic regime with no guarantees for basic freedoms. For example, it keeps people in prison for “political crimes.”
There are also limitations described in OAS (Organization of American States) reports on the “illegitimate appointment” of the National Electoral Council by an illegitimate National Assembly and the InterAmerican Commission on Human Rights (as of October 2022, November 2022 and March 2023).