Afət Ziyadqızı
Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva has strongly criticized charges brought by the US administration against former Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro.
Operative Information Center-OMM reports that the Brazilian leader made the remarks in a post on his official account on the social media platform X.
In his post, Lula da Silva expressed disapproval of what he described as the United States’ practice of making unilateral accusations: “If Maduro made a mistake, he should be tried. This matter should be investigated. One country cannot simply make accusations on its own. I am tired of this. Where are the chemical weapons that Saddam Hussein was said to have? Where is the nuclear bomb that Iran was said to possess?”
It was previously reported that Nicolas Maduro was detained and taken out of the country during a special military operation carried out by US law-enforcement agencies on Jan. 3. A trial for the former Venezuelan president and his wife, Cilia Flores, who were detained by the United States, has been announced for June 1, 2027.
Meanwhile, Maduro applied to a New York court on Sept. 3, seeking dismissal of the criminal case against him. He stressed that, as the leader of a sovereign state, he was entitled to immunity and could not be prosecuted in the United States.
The US Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York has accused Maduro of cooperating with terrorist organizations and unlawfully enriching himself during more than 25 years in public office.
The dispute is part of a broader and long-running conflict between Washington and Caracas, with the United States having imposed sanctions and pursued legal action against senior Venezuelan officials. Lula da Silva’s comments reflect Brazil’s stated preference for legal investigation and diplomatic engagement in resolving regional disputes.
