Venezuelan Attorney General Tarek William Saab on Saturday accused Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva of staging the domestic accident he suffered so as not to have to attend the BRICS summit in Russia that saw Brasilia veto Venezuela’s entry into the organization.
“Direct sources close to Brazil inform me that President Lula da Silva manipulated an alleged accident to use it as an alibi to avoid attending the Brics summit, and that it was a deception to perpetrate the veto against Venezuela »says the prosecutor in a press release on social networks.
Venezuela, which was banking heavily on its integration into the BRICS during the summit in Kazan, saw Brazil refuse its entry into the group.
According to an official Brazilian source, President Lula canceled, on medical advice, his trip to the Brics summit due to an injury to the back of the head caused by a domestic accident. He was represented by members of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
Three days after the accident, the medical team reported that the president was again « apte » to work.
“What was a strong rumor unfortunately seems to be corroborated by a video, where we see President Lula in good health and acting with total cynicism (…) Lula reappeared smiling and unharmed, showing that he used this +accident+ to lie to Brazil, the Brics and the world”assures Mr. Saab, believing that a “investigation should be opened”.
Caracas reacted strongly to the Brazilian veto on Friday with a press release with the unequivocal words: ” assault “, « gesture hostile », « inexplicable et immoral ». The only nuance is that the press release attacked the Ministry of Foreign Affairs without attacking Lula.
The Brazilian veto is the consequence of a “break of trust”declared the former Minister of Foreign Affairs and advisor to Lula, Celso Amorim, stressing that Mr. Maduro had promised Lula to publish the minutes of the July 28 elections.
But the National Electoral Council which proclaimed Mr. Maduro the winner has still not published them, claiming to be the victim of computer hacking while the opposition claims victory.
Lula was a historic ally of Chavista Venezuela, first under the late Hugo Chavez (1999-2013), then under his successor Maduro, but the relationship between the two neighbors has been strained since the Venezuelan presidential election.
