BRASILIA: Brazil’s President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva spoke by phone with Venezuela’s Nicolas Maduro about “peace” in South America, the Brazilian presidency said Friday, as fears grow of conflict between Washington and Caracas.
President Donald Trump’s administration accuses Maduro of leading a drug trafficking cartel, and has carried out deadly strikes on alleged drug-trafficking boats, seized an oil tanker and slapped sanctions on his relatives.
Lula, one of Latin America’s most influential leaders, had not spoken to fellow leftist Maduro since Venezuela’s 2024 presidential election, the results of which Brazil — along with much of the international community — did not recognize.
A source in the Brazilian presidency, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the two leaders had a brief conversation last week about “peace in South America and the Caribbean.”
However, the source said there was no intention on Lula’s part to “be a mediator” in the crisis between Washington and Caracas.
