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Brazilian Foreign Minister Supports Dialogue in Venezuela

03/04/2014 - 14h25

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ELIANE CANTANHEDE
FOLHA COLUMNIST

The Brazilian foreign minister Luiz Alberto Figueiredo supports Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro's opening of talks with opposition leaders and protestors. Violent protests in the country have killed at least 17 people over the last month.

Figueiredo also discussed the American whistleblower Edward Snowden, in an interview reproduced below:

Folha: Some critics have observed that Brazilian foreign policy has lost its impetus under the government of Dilma Rousseff. Does she have some kind of prejudice against foreign affairs?

Luiz Alberto Figueiredo: No, to the contrary. President Rousseff and I frequently discuss foreign affairs and she is extremely well informed. The idea that she is not interested in foreign policy is a myth; I don't know how it arose. When I took the job as foreign minister, she told me that the Brazilian foreign office had been practicing a lot of diplomacy but without involving itself in external politics.

Folha: Russia, another of the Brics nations, has pursued an independent line on several key foreign policy issues, such as the civil war in Syria, the American whistleblower Edward Snowden, and now the crisis in Ukraine. What is Brazil's assessment of the Russian positions?

LAF: Russia played an important role in persuading Syria to destroy its stock of chemical weapons, and by taking a strong stance at the UN's Security Council, it helped prevent an armed intervention at a time when that would only have aggravated the humanitarian crisis.

Folha: And what about Russia's intervention in Ukraine? Russia being a country with a history of imperialism

LAF: Ukraine was part of the Soviet Union, while Russia maintains a naval base at Sebastopol in the Crimea. Moreover, Ukraine has a significant population of Russian ethnic origin, which still speaks Russian. It's a complex international question. We hope that the people of Ukraine find a solution. It's not really up to me to speculate.

Folha: Why was Brazil silent on the crisis in Venezuela?

LAF: We weren't. We spoke about the crisis at three separate forums: the Southern Common Market (Mercosur), The Union of South American Nations (UNASUR) and the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (CELAC).

Folha: Wasn't Mercosur's statement criticised for offering excessive support to Maduro?

LAF: The criticisms are misplaced. Mercosur's statement was misunderstood. It said that the member countries 'repudiate every kind of violence and intolerance [] whatever the origin may be.' This doesn't seem to me to be blaming the protestors for the violence, as some have suggested. And the following paragraph in the statement urges the opposing sides towards dialogue.

Folha: So the statement was a criticism of the government and a message to Maduro?

LAF: President Maduro doesn't need messages. This is not a message, it's just a reaffirmation of Mercosur's position that all these issues should be dealt with within a democratic context. It's not about blaming anyone. Incidentally, we have read that members of state security forces in Venezuela have been arrested, accused of killing protestors.

Folha: Venezuela and the United States have each expelled the diplomats of the other. Under Lula, Brazil acted as a mediator between the two countries. What is the situation now?

LAF: Brazil acted as a mediator and continues to do so, though not necessarily in public. Many things are achieved in diplomacy without them ever being made public, since if they were to be made public they would not have the same effect.

Folha: Following Obama's scaling back of NSA surveillance programs, and his promises that the US will no longer spy on its allies, what more is required for President Rousseff to visit the United States?

LAF: I have nothing to add here. President Rousseff discussed the issue (NSA surveillance programs) with President Obama at the UN, meanwhile, we are pursuing other initiatives. For example, at the UN's General Assembly we proposed a resolution regarding privacy in the digital era, drafted with Germany. Moreover, in April, we are going to host a conference in São Paulo about internet governance, with representatives from government, business and various other sectors.

Folha: Why doesn't Brazil grant asylum to Edward Snowden?

LAF: He has never made any such request to Brazil for asylum. There was a campaign by an NGO which asked various countries to take him in, but we don't know if this campaign originated with him or not. We have never said no.

Folha: If this is the case, why did you tell the American embassy that Brazil would not grant Snowden asylum?

LAF: In a conversation with the American ambassador Liliana Ayalde, the issue arose and I said 'Look, it's not an issue. We have received no request for asylum, and as such, we are not considering it.'

Folha: Can Brazil really afford to pay around R$55,000 (USD $23,500) a month in rent for the residence of just one of the ambassadors in New York? And if so, why is it necessary?

LAF: The ambassador's residence in New York is owned by the Brazilian state. However, we do pay rent on the residence of the deputy ambassador. In fact, the property is quite modest. Unfortunately, rent in New York is very high.

Folha: Why does the deputy ambassador need to be the neighbour of rich and famous people such as Bono and Woody Allen?

LAF: The deputy ambassador had trouble finding a property close to the UN, as the rents were too high. So we found somewhere on the other side of the city. It's an island on which many celebrities live, so it's really not so surprising that the deputy ambassador lives near famous people. When I was young, I lived in a modest, two-bedroom apartment in the same building as Anthony Quinn.

Translated by TOM GATEHOUSE

Read the article in the original language

Norberto Duarte/AFP
Brazilian Foreign Minister supports dialogue in Venezuela
Brazilian Foreign Minister supports dialogue in Venezuela

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