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Celso Amorim, aide to Brazilian President Lula da Silva for foreign political affairs, warned that any US military intervention in Venezuela would have dire consequences for the whole of South America, stressing the importance of dialogue in resolving regional crises instead of resorting to confrontation.
In statements to French media, Amorim expressed his country’s concern that “any foreign intervention would lead to enormous discontent in the continent,” adding: “We cannot accept foreign intervention, because it will provoke widespread anger and could spark tension in South America and lead to political extremism throughout the continent.”
These statements by the prominent Brazilian diplomat come ahead of a possible meeting between President Lula da Silva and US President Donald Trump on the sidelines of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (“ASEAN”) summit in Kuala Lumpur, where the summit is expected to address various economic and trade issues, including US tariffs that have caused tensions with Southern countries.
In a related context, US Secretary of War Pete Hegseth issued an order last Friday to deploy the aircraft carrier Gerald Ford and a group of its warships to the US Southern Command area, coinciding with escalating tensions with Venezuela, which accuses Washington of seeking to interfere in its internal affairs under various pretexts, foremost of which is combating drug trafficking.
For his part, Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro appealed to the United States last Thursday in English, warning against waging a “mad war” on his country, stressing that any attack on Venezuela “would drag the region into disaster.”
Maduro’s statements come in the wake of US President Donald Trump’s announcement of his authorization to carry out covert operations against Venezuela, as part of a broad US military campaign targeting what Washington calls “drug smugglers” in the Caribbean and Pacific regions, according to reports in Western media.
source: 961 today
