After two official meetings, Lula strongly questioned this blockade, which he considered the cause of the lack of dollars in Caracas.

“Maduro does not have dollars to pay for his imports, is it his fault? No. It is the fault of the United States, which made an extremely exaggerated blockade. I always think that the blockade is worse than a war”, the former labor leader affirmed.

Since 2019, about three billion Venezuelan dollars are frozen in banks in the United Kingdom, the United States, Portugal and France, as part of international sanctions.

Also in the statement, Lula pointed out that Maduro’s visit to the country is a “historic moment”, and that Brazil recovered the right to do “politics with seriousness” by opening a channel of dialogue with Venezuela.

Maduro’s presence in national territory had not been allowed since August 2019, when an order by then President Jair Bolsonaro prohibited the Venezuelan leader and other authorities from the neighboring nation from entering the country.

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