He applauded the diplomatic rapprochement between Washington and Caracas.
The former president of Brazil Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, who seeks to occupy the position again, was asked about democracy in Venezuela and he clarified that “there is no president who is irreplaceable.”
“Brazil will treat Venezuela with respect,” Lula said. This as a response to its diplomatic relations with that country in case of being elected as president once again.
During his session with the foreign press, he maintained that a friendly relationship has always been maintained with leftist presidents who have remained in power, as in the case of Nicolás Maduro in Venezuela and Daniel Ortega in Nicaragua.
“I hope that the European Union treats Venezuela with respect and that the United States reestablishes relations with Venezuela,” added Lula, who applauded the contacts between Washington and Caracas.
“There is no president who is irreplaceable. Brazil will treat Venezuela with respect,” Lula said.
He was later asked about his lack of criticism of the region’s autocratic rulers, to which he replied: “I have always known how to respect the self-determination of peoples, I cannot interfere.”
On the other hand, he also said that his rival, the current president Jair Bolsonaro, is carrying out a dirty campaign against him and his family.
In his first press conference with foreign journalists since his campaign began, the leftist politician accused Bolsonaro supporters of spreading falsehoods about him and his new wife, Rosângela da Silva.
Some Bolsonaro supporters have used social networks to ensure that Lula will close evangelical churches if he wins the October elections. Lula has insisted that he is in favor of freedom of belief and that he has shown it during his eight years in office (2003-2010).
The Workers’ Party, to which he belongs, has taken legal action against a legislator and pastor who spread such remarks.
Bolsonaro’s supporters have also said that Lula’s wife is a believer in an Afro-Brazilian religion, in an apparent attempt to undermine evangelical support for the former president.
Rosângela da Silva tweeted on August 9 that she and her husband will always respect people’s faith, no matter what it is, and Lula confirmed that position on Monday.
When asked about press reports that Bolsonaro was interested in questioning his wife’s faith in television guidelines, Lula replied: “I never involved the wife of any president in a political campaign. I never included any personal problem of any candidate in her political life”.
“When they begin to involve the wives (of the candidates) in the campaigns, it is because they have nothing to talk about,” Lula added.
The 76-year-old former president also accused Bolsonaro of being “the only (candidate) who has used fake news and challenged Brazilian institutions” by hinting that he might not accept the election results.
Bolsonaro on his sidewalk
Bolsonaro has repeatedly stated, without presenting evidence, that the country’s electronic voting system is susceptible to fraud, while authorities and independent experts have endorsed its reliability.
During a 40-minute interview with the Globo television network, Bolsonaro was asked Monday if he will accept the results of the vote and ask his ardent supporters to do the same.
His answer was affirmative, although ambiguous.
“The results of the vote will be respected, as long as the election is clean and transparent,” he said on a nightly news program.
He stressed that the armed forces, which belong to the country’s electoral transparency commission, will be partly responsible for deciding whether the elections were transparent.
He also indicated that he has seen the need to be provocative in order to push for improvements in the voting system.
Bolsonaro was not asked about Lula during his interview, and the president made no reference to his rival.
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