Brazil Condemns Violence on Venezuelan Border

By Lise Alves, Senior Contributing Reporter

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – Brazil’s government condemned the violence registered along the border of Venezuela and Brazil and also Venezuela and Colombia on Saturday. The Brazilian government called the actions of the Venezuelan security forces, of putting fire to trucks carrying humanitarian aid into the country, as ‘criminal’ and a ‘brutal attack on human rights’.

“The Brazilian government expresses its most vehement condemnation of the acts of violence perpetrated by the illegitimate regime of dictator Nicolás Maduro on February 23rd, on the borders of Venezuela with Brazil and Colombia, which caused several fatalities and dozens of wounded,” says the statement issued early Sunday morning.

In the note, Brazil’s Foreign Service Ministry, Itamaraty, calls for all countries to recognize Juan Guaidó as the leader of Venezuela’s legitimate government.

“Brazil appeals to the international community, especially those countries that have not yet recognized President Juan Guaidó, to join in the liberation effort of Venezuela, recognizing the legitimate government of Guaidó and demanding that the violence of the regime’s forces against its own population,” said the document.

The Brazilian government emphasizes that the use of force against the Venezuelan people, which is experiencing a moment of deep humanitarian crisis, is inadmissible.

According to Brazil two trucks carrying humanitarian aid were able to cross the border from the Brazilian city of Pacaraima to Venezuela, despite the decision by Venezuelan authorities to close the border between the two countries on Friday.

Reports from Brazilian media, however, state that the trucks were stopped by Nicolas Maduro’s military forces a few kilometers into Venezuelan territory and supplies were confiscated.

On the border between Venezuela and Colombia the violence was worse, with trucks carrying humanitarian aid being torched when they were crossing the border and bloody clashes between Maduro’s security officers and the Venezuelan population.

Officially, the government of Roraima state says that nine Venezuelans were brought to hospitals on the Brazilian side on Saturday, after a clash between Venezuelans trying to cross the border and Maduro’s security forces. Officials say that five of the victims were in critical condition, with firearm injuries, and sent to Roraima’s capital, Boa Vista.

Brazil’s Vice President, Hamilton Mourão, and Foreign Minister, Ernesto Araújo, are scheduled to travel to Bogota, Colombia, Sunday to attend a meeting of the Lima Group on Monday.

The meeting, which will also be attended by the US’s Vice President, Mike Pence, will discuss the escalation of the crisis in Venezuela. The Lima Group is composed of fifteen countries, eleven of which have publicly declared they recognize Juan Guaidó, and not Nicolás Maduro, as Venezuela’s legitimate president.