Brazil’s President Lula says destiny of Venezuelan president needs to be decided by the ‘folks of Venezuela’ and ‘not by overseas interference’.
Printed On 21 Feb 2026
Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva has mentioned that Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro ought to face trial, however that it ought to happen in a Venezuelan court docket, reasonably than in the USA, the place he’s presently being held after his abduction by the US navy.
“I consider that if Maduro must be trialled, he must be trialled in his nation, not trialled overseas,” Lula mentioned in an interview, emphasising that “what issues now’s to re-establish democracy in Venezuela”.
“It must be solved by the folks of Venezuela, and never by overseas interference,” mentioned Lula, citing a history of US-backed dictatorships in Latin America, together with Chile, Argentina and Uruguay.
“We can’t settle for {that a} head of state of 1 nation might invade one other nation and seize the president,” the Brazilian chief added.
Lula’s feedback come as Venezuela’s performing president, Delcy Rodriguez, has been working to release hundreds of politicians, activists and attorneys jailed throughout Maduro’s residency, which started in 2013.
The Brazilian has brazenly criticised the abduction of Maduro and his spouse, Cilia Flores, in a navy operation ordered by US President Donald Trump on January 3.
Maduro was flown to New York after his abduction in a bloody evening raid on Caracas. He has since been accused by US authorities of planning to move medication to the US alongside different costs.
The US authorities’s personal information reveals that Venezuela just isn’t among the many world’s main drug producers; nevertheless, Trump administration officers have accused Maduro and others of working with the area’s largest drug trafficking teams, together with in Colombia and Mexico.
Whereas the Trump administration has claimed that its navy buildup close to Venezuela and maritime blockade of the nation had been targeted on combating drug trafficking, Trump has laid claim to Venezuelan oil reserves since eradicating Maduro.
Trump has additionally invited US oil corporations to exploit Venezuela’s oil and mentioned he desires proceeds from the sale of Venezuelan oil “to profit the folks of Venezuela and the USA”.
