During a meeting with his entire cabinet, Lula revealed that in his most recent telephone conversation with his US counterpart, Donald Trump, he tried to persuade him that negotiation is a more effective and less costly path than military confrontation.

Although Lula did not explicitly mention Venezuela, the topic was present both in that call with Trump and in the call he held in early December with Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro, as confirmed by the Brazilian government itself.

In that conversation, the former labor leader expressed his concern about the increased military and economic pressure from Washington on Caracas and offered to collaborate, discreetly, in the search for a negotiated solution.

Brazil’s position contrasts sharply with the current situation in Venezuela, where the blockade and international sanctions have intensified, directly impacting oil exports, the country’s main source of income.

The United States unilaterally maintains tight control over Venezuelan oil operations, restricts access to international markets, and reinforces measures that, according to Caracas, constitute deliberate economic strangulation.

Maduro government denounces these actions as exacerbating the social and economic crisis and warns that the blockade deepens the scarcity of resources needed to import food, medicine, and essential goods.

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