Venezuela’s Foreign Minister Jorge Arreaza said that the government of President Jair Bolsonaro will have to apologize to the people for “the way they are trampling Brazil’s diplomacy.”
In an exclusive interview with Opera Mundi, Arreaza talked about relations with the Brazilian government, and said that Brazil’s diplomacy is no longer the Itamary of two years ago, when it was an important diplomatic school for Latin America and the world.”
The Venezuelan foreign minister is also concerned about the situation of the 11,800 Brazilians living in Venezuela who were left without consular services after the Bolsonaro government removed the diplomatic corps from Caracas earlier this month.
He also talked about the failed attempted invasion against Venezuela on May 3 and the denunciation of this aggression presented by Russia in the UN Security Council.
Read the full interview here:
Opera Mundi: After Operation Gideon, did any country, other than Venezuela’s allies, contact the Venezuelan government to express repudiation against this violent action?
Jorge Arreaza: No. No country has contacted us in any way. Left-wing parties and popular movements came into contact. But, to date, no government in Latin America, or Europe, has spoken out on the topic. There has been a complicit silence to hide the scandal of an armed, mercenary action, financed by the United States and organized in Colombian territory. It is a shame, for International Relations and for the American continent, that a country has undergone this, that a Latin American country has participated in an operation that also received funding from drug trafficking, with the participation of mercenaries from the United States. It is a shame. In addition, we are now seeing how the European Union, the United States and the countries of the Lima Group, which are cartelized against Venezuela, are resuming a smear campaign that there is an alleged humanitarian crisis in Venezuela. They will hold a conference on May 26 for international donors to make resources available for Venezuelan immigrants. This topic is being spread by the media to cover up the mercenary invasion.
Why do these countries insist on this humanitarian crisis issue if the UN and the most important social investment funds claim that Venezuela does not fit the technical profile of a country that suffers a humanitarian crisis?
It seems that the ideas used to attack Venezuela have been worn out by the media, and they are going back to this issue that has already been overcome. Venezuela is the only country in the world that is receiving return migration because thousands of Venezuelans (42,000 in the last two months) are returning, leaving Colombia, Chile, Peru and Ecuador. They also want to hide this phenomenon. They are coming back, and we are providing free health care and treatment against COVID-19.
President Nicolás Maduro met with UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, and upon leaving that meeting, the president said that he would accept aid and humanitarian assistance from anyone who wants to make donations through the United Nations, as it is natural. We thought donations would rain on us, that more than 10 daily humanitarian aid planes would be sent because of the concern they seemed to have about Venezuela, but it was pure hypocrisy. This is a strategy of fourth generation war. They did the same thing in the Dominican Republic in 1965, when they sent 10 doctors for humanitarian assistance, and along with them 1,000 US navy soldiers. They invaded the country to overthrow the government. This is what they are trying to do in Venezuela.
What is the value of Venezuela’s state-owned resources blocked overseas?
Cash and gold resources amount to nearly $10 billion in international banks. To this we have to add assets such as the refineries of our oil company, PDVSA, in the U.S., profits that we no longer receive, the repatriation of capital from those profits that have not been sent since 2017. These resources can exceed $30 billion. If we had access to all of it, our country’s economic situation would be totally different. In addition, the blockade also affects our oil industry, because we have difficulties to export and distribute our oil. We cannot import equipment and maintenance parts, nor the chemicals needed for refining. When we try to export, they persecute our ships. If we include what we failed to produce due to the blockade, we would easily reach $100 billion in losses. These actions resemble attempted genocide, which we are trying to contain. The U.S. intention is to make the Venezuelan people starve to death until they can overthrow the government that was elected in a democratic process.
In relation to this blockade issue, Venezuela is experiencing a shortage of fuel. Iran was the only country that agreed to sell gasoline to the Venezuelan government, but the United States is threatening to prevent the transit of Iranian tankers in international waters of the Caribbean Sea. How do you see this situation?
Iran is publicly denouncing that it has received threats and warnings from the United States for sending these tankers to Venezuela. I hope it does not happen. Anyway, when these tankers enter Venezuelan territorial waters, they will be escorted by boats and airplanes of the Bolivarian National Armed Force. We have to ensure this gasoline arrives so that the Venezuelan people can have some relief for a few months, and it will buy us time to refurbish our refineries with international support we are receiving from several countries to import parts and equipment to resume production of gasoline in the future in our country.
Has Venezuela established a dialogue with any Caribbean country where these tankers are passing through?
No, because this is a regular transaction between two sovereign states, members of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting States (OPEC). There is no objection by the World Trade Organization. The countries of the region know that the only country that can try to meddle in this history is the United States, due to its imperialist madness.
President Nicolás Maduro said last week that the two channels of communication between the governments of Venezuela and the United States were cut off by the Trump administration after the failed invasion attempt. Is this still the situation today?
President Maduro is very generous when it comes to establishing dialogue with those who attack us, with our opponents. And I tell opponents not to call them enemies. We are working to recover the channels of dialogue we had before Operation Gideon. There is talk that they want to support humanitarian aid through UN agencies. Here, we have a level of dialogue. I hope one day the United States learn to respect the peoples of our America.
Last week another meeting took place at the UN Security Council on Venezuela. Unlike other times, when speeches were more balanced between those who were against and those who defended Venezuela, this time the majority condemned the attempted invasion. What made them change their position?
The UN Security Council is active whenever there is a situation that could jeopardize international peace and security. When they convened a meeting last year, the debate was politicized in line with U.S. interests to attack Venezuela. They claimed President Maduro did not allow humanitarian aid to enter Venezuela, citing reports from experts who had never set foot in Venezuelan territory. That was a theater set up. In that moment, some members of the Security Council were confused, trying to understand what was going on. This year, the situation is very different. The scandal with the mercenaries was so great that the violation of the United Nations Charter, from article one to the last, was evident.
What is the current strategy of the United States within the UN Security Council in relation to Venezuela?
The strategy is maximum pressure against Venezuela by using the premise that all options are on the table. They accuse President Maduro, President of the National Constituent Assembly Diosdado Cabello, Defense Minister Vladimir Padrino López, and Oil Minister Tareck El Aissami of drug trafficking. They used fraudulent lawsuits, which served to give green light to these groups of mercenaries, who came to Venezuela under the excuse that they were seeking a reward for the heads of Venezuelan politicians, as they did in the U.S. Old West. It is barbarism against civilization. In the Security Council debate, I was surprised to see some European countries sympathizing with the U.S. It is unacceptable that a state does not defend the principles of the United Nations. That is the reason why we saw that the vast majority defended the UN Charter, and defended Venezuela. A minority supported the U.S.
What is the level of contact and communication between Venezuela and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Brazil? Have you talked to Foreign Minister Ernesto Araújo?
We never, ever speak. We never spoke to Itamaraty, which is no longer the Itamaraty of two years ago, when it was an important diplomatic school for Latin America and the world. Araújo’s Itamaraty decided to ignore Venezuela, to ignore the government that Venezuelans democratically elected. They adopted the strategy of defending a fake government, a coup d’état, and an attitude of aggression against Venezuela. There is no communication between us. Even Itamaraty’s communication with our diplomatic corps in Brazil is absolutely informal. There is nothing official. Not even diplomatic notes are considered in official events. This is a lack of respect; diplomacy does not accept this type of behavior. They tried to expel our diplomats without taking into account the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations.
The Brazilian consulate in Venezuela closed earlier this month. Has the Venezuelan government been informed of this decision?
They sent a diplomatic note informing them of the end of consular activities. They asked for authorization to board a military flight that came from Brazil to withdraw Brazilian diplomats. However, they did not activate diplomatic conventions; they did not break consular relations. They only withdrew the diplomatic corps. If Brazil decides to break diplomatic relations, under the rules of the Vienna Convention, and to declare our diplomats personae non grata, we will have to recognize it, but this has not happened so far. They want to do everything outside the convention, in a wild, primitive way. Technically, relations continue to exist. However, Brazilians living in Venezuela are now without legal protection. If any of them have problems with personal documents or a serious health problem, they have no one to turn to so that the Brazilian state can provide due assistance. We think this is very negative for the Brazilian population.
How do you see the future of diplomacy between Caracas and Brasilia?
I hope that our consulates can remain in Brazil to protect our citizens and that the Brazilian consulate in Venezuela resumes its duties. I know that we have absolutely opposite ideological positions, but with former minister Aloysio Nunes, foreign minister of former President Michel Temer, there was dialogue. It was a government with which we had many differences, but I spoke to Aloysio Nunes cordially. There were differences and things we agreed on, and we worked together on those issues. We were very frank. Although there are differences between our governments, who do we have to talk to? Who is most important to talk to? To those who think differently. So, if Brazil’s foreign minister wants to talk to me, I will call him tomorrow. So far, there is no interest because they do not recognize our government.
I spoke with some Brazilians who live in Venezuela and are concerned because they do not know how they are going to renew their passports without the Brazilian consulate in Caracas. With social isolation in place, they are also unable to return to Brazil. What can they do?
If they organize themselves and set up a commission to speak to the vice-minister of the Venezuelan Foreign Ministry for Latin America, we can figure something out; we will be glad to do it. We are designing formulas, because we are also concerned about the situation of Brazilians in Venezuela, and we feel responsibility towards these citizens.
What is the stance of the Venezuelan government in relation to the expulsion of Venezuelan diplomats announced by the Bolsonaro government on May 2?
Our stance is not to leave Brazil. We are neighboring countries, with migrant populations, and the Constitution of Venezuela obliges us to protect our citizens, just like the Constitution of Brazil does. As they resort to barbarism, this issue now concerns the Brazilian justice. It is a domestic issue of Brazil. I think it is positive for Venezuelans in Brazil that the Venezuelan diplomatic corps is in the country to help them, especially with the uncontrolled expansion of coronavirus.
Is there any kind of political coordination or dialogue on the Venezuelan border with Brazil on the measures taken to control the COVID-19 pandemic?
There is some level of communication between the armed forces of the two countries, but not between the ministries of health. There is also communication between the government of the state of Roraima and the government of the state of Bolívar, on the Venezuelan side. We are concerned about a potential hotspot via the states of Roraima and Amazonas as Venezuelans returning from Brazil are infected with COVID-19. We would like to establish communication with all the bodies of the Brazilian government, which would stop being silly, ignoring the Venezuelan government.