President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (PT) once again relativized criticism of the regime of Nicolás Maduro, dictator of Venezuela, when he said this Thursday (29) that there are different views on what democracy is.
"The concept of democracy is relative for you and for me. I like democracy because democracy made me reach the Presidency for the third time. That's why I like democracy and I exercise it to the fullest. The whole world knows that the PT's governance here is an example of exercising democracy," he said.
Lula had been questioned about the reasons why he and his government hesitate to assert that the Maduro regime is not a democracy.
To reinforce his argument, Lula pointed out that Venezuela has had more elections than Brazil in recent years – he did not mention, however, that the election that re-elected Maduro in 2018 is widely questioned and was not accompanied by international observers, as is customary in free and democratic elections.
Then, he diverted the focus and started to talk about internal politics and the coup-mongering attacks of the 8th of January, with criticism of Jair Bolsonaro (PL), despite not mentioning him by name.
Translated by Cassy Dias