Joesley Batista is credited as a major force behind the reconciliation between Trump and Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva
Six international airlines had suspended flights to Venezuela over the risk of possible US military strikes when an ultra-long-haul executive jet from São Paulo, Brazil, landed calmly in Caracas.
On board that flight on 23 November was the Brazilian meat tycoon Joesley Batista – twice jailed for corruption and whose companies have a long record of environmental violations. After a meeting with the Venezuelan dictator Nicolás Maduro, he returned to Brazil the following day.
Three days earlier, Donald Trump had demanded Maduro step down, and Batista’s aim was to convince the Venezuelan to do so.
The Brazilian billionaire’s efforts apparently had no effect, since the dictator remains in power and tensions with the US have escalated further, including the seizure of an oil tanker off the Venezuelan coast and the expansion of US sanctions.
