Venezuela's President Nicolás Maduro has visited Brazil for the first time since he was banned by former far-right President Jair Bolsonaro in 2019. Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, the new president, welcomed Maduro and discussed a "new era" in bilateral relations. Maduro talked of a "new era" in bilateral relations and Lula said the region should tackle poverty. A number of countries question the legitimacy of Maduro, who is described by opponents as a dictator. Lula used the visit to criticise US sanctions on Venezuela saying a "constructed narrative of authoritarianism" was in place about Venezuela and that sanctions were unjustified.
Maduro last visited Brazil in 2015. Jair Bolsonaro is an ideologically opposed to the leftist Venezuelan leader and unlikely to extend an invitation. However, in the past, Lula enjoyed warm ties with both Nicolás Maduro and his political mentor, the late Hugo Chávez. Lula spoke of what he called "extremely exaggerated" US sanctions on Venezuela and urged his South American ally to build a new "narrative" about authoritarianism. For Mr Maduro, the visit was an opportunity to repeat his call for the US sanctions to be lifted, saying he would call upon the other nations in South America to oppose them as a regional bloc.
Since Mr Maduro was elected in 2013, he has grown increasingly authoritarian and his crackdown on opposition activists ultimately led to the US imposing sanctions on his government and recognising opposition leader Juan Guaidó as interim president in 2019. Last December, Venezuela's opposition National Assembly voted to dissolve its parallel government and remove Mr Guaidó. The vote showed how many opposition politicians in Venezuela had lost faith in Mr Guaidó. Venezuela's long-running political and humanitarian crisis has seen some seven million people flee the country since 2015.
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