CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) 鈥 Venezuela鈥檚 government on Wednesday doubled down on its attacks against Brazilian foreign relations officials, accusing them of jeopardizing diplomatic relations between the neighboring South American countries by acting on behalf of the interests of the United States.
The broadsides from the government of President Nicol谩s Maduro came a day after a top foreign policy adviser to Brazil鈥檚 president said the country had not supported Venezuela鈥檚 bid to join the of developing economies at the group鈥檚 recent summit in Russia. That move added to the monthslong tensions between both countries over the disputed results of Venezuela鈥檚 July presidential election and subsequent calls for transparency from Brazil and other nations.
Venezuela鈥檚 Foreign Relations Ministry said in a statement it had summoned Brazil鈥檚 charg茅 d鈥檃ffaires in Venezuela, Breno Hermann, to 鈥渆xpress its strongest rejection of the recurrent interventionist and rude statements of spokespersons authorized by the Brazilian government.鈥 Brazil's embassy in Caracas, the capital, declined to comment.
In the statement, the ministry accused Celso Amorim, Brazil鈥檚 former foreign affairs minister and a special adviser to President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, of acting 鈥渓ike a messenger of American imperialism鈥 by 鈥渋ssuing value judgments on processes that only correspond to Venezuelans and their democratic institutions.鈥 It added that his actions are 鈥渢hreatening the ties that unite both countries.鈥
Amorim on Tuesday in a hearing before Brazilian lawmakers acknowledged 鈥渄iscomfort鈥 between the two countries, attributing it to the Maduro government's refusal to publish detailed election results supporting the victory that electoral authorities handed the president. He later said that an improvement of the diplomatic relations "will depend on actions鈥 taken by Venezuela, but he did not offer any specifics.
Brazil鈥檚 Foreign Ministry in Brasilia did not immediately respond to a request for comment from The Associated Press.
Venezuela's electoral authorities claimed they could not publish the detailed results because their website was hacked. At the same time, the main opposition coalition used across the country, published them online and declared that its candidate, former diplomat Edmundo Gonz谩lez, had defeated Maduro by a landslide.
In the days after the July 28 election, Lula, Colombian President Gustavo Petro and then-Mexican President Andr茅s Manuel L贸pez Obrador 鈥 all leftists and friendly with Maduro 鈥 inserted themselves into Venezuela鈥檚 election standoff to attempt a peacemaking effort. But it went nowhere, and , reshuffled his Cabinet and .
The BRICS bloc, which initially included Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa, has expanded to embrace Iran, Egypt, Ethiopia, the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia. Brazil opposed including Venezuela at the group鈥檚 summit earlier this month.
鈥淏razil does not want an indefinite expansion,鈥 Amorim told lawmakers. 鈥淏razil believes its members should be countries with influence that can help represent the region. And Venezuela today does not meet these conditions, in our opinion. Now, that isn鈥檛 a veto; that was expressed. And there, decisions are by consensus.鈥
Venezuela's Foreign Affairs Ministry characterized the move as 鈥渋rrational behavior鈥 and likened it to the economic sanctions that the U.S. imposed against the South American country.
