(L to R) Argentina's President Javier Milei, Paraguay's President Santiago Pena, Brazil's President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva and Uruguay's President Yamandu Orsi pose for a family photo during the Mercosur Heads of State Summit at the Iguacu Falls in Foz do Iguacu, Parana State, Brazil, on December 20, 2025. EVARISTO SA / AFP
Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva and Argentina's Javier Milei on Saturday, January 20, openly clashed at a regional summit about the fate of Venezuela, as US President Donald Trump ratchets up the pressure on Caracas. The comments from Lula and Milei came at a meeting of the South American Mercosur bloc, at which a future trade deal with the European Union was on the agenda.
But the tensions over Venezuela, once a member of Mercosur but suspended in 2016, exploded in the open, with Lula warning that armed conflict could spark a "humanitarian catastrophe," and Milei praising Trump's saber-rattling. The US military has beefed up its presence in the Caribbean in recent months and carried out air strikes against alleged drug boats in the region and in the Pacific, claiming that it is combating narcotics trafficking. But Venezuelan strongman Nicolas Maduro says the campaign is part of a wider effort to carry out regime change in Caracas, and Trump said this week he could not rule out the possibility of war.
