Chilean President Gabriel Boric said on Tuesday that the situation with human rights in Venezuela this is a “serious reality” and not a “narrative construction”, as his Brazilian colleague pointed out the day before, Luis Inacio Lula da Silva.

“I respectfully stated that I have a discrepancy with what President Lula said yesterday (…) This is not a narrative construction, this is a serious reality.“, – said the former student leader in the press office as part of the regional summit, which takes place in Brasilia on Tuesday.

“I had the opportunity to see (this reality) in the eyes and in the pain of hundreds of thousands of Venezuelans who are today in our homeland and who also require a firm and clear positionhe added.

Unlike other progressive leaders in the region, Boric has been highly critical of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro.but he has always questioned economic sanctions against the South American country, and this Tuesday he called on the United States and the European Union to lift them so “the Venezuelan people can move forward.”

Hosted by Lula and attended by 11 other regional leaders, Tuesday’s summit marks the first face-to-face meeting between Boric and Maduro.

“We are pleased that Venezuela is returning to multilateral institutions because we believe that it is in these spaces that problems are solved, and not by statements where we only attack each other, ”said Boric.

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However, he added: “This can’t mean sweep under the rug or close your eyes on issues that are of fundamental importance to us”, for example, the protection of human rights.

Attacks by Chilean President Gabriel Boric on Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro and criticism of Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva for saying that the dictatorship in this country is a narrative construct. “As a leftist president, I think it was… pic.twitter.com/jQElL3svGr

— BluRadio Colombia (@BluRadioCo) May 30, 2023

Despite criticism, Boric is trying to normalize relations with Venezuela and was named last week New Ambassador to Caracas Jaime Gazmouria position that has been empty since 2018.

Except Boric and MaduroThe meeting called by Lula was also attended by Argentine Presidents Alberto Fernandez; Bolivia, Luis Arce; Columbia, Gustavo Petro; Ecuador, Guillermo Lasso; Guyana, Irfan Ali; Paraguay, Mario Abdo Benitez; Suriname, Chan Santohi and Uruguay, Luis Lacalle Pou.

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Although the meetings are held behind closed doors and there is no official broadcast, the President of Uruguay, Luis Lacalle Pou, He also criticized Lula’s statements. and in a video he posted to his social media with part of his intervention, he urged “not to cover the sun with your finger.” (EFE)