Bolsonaro’s government revokes the decree and Maduro may come to Lula’s inauguration – 12/30/2022

In an unexpected turn of events even for Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva’s closest advisers, Jair Bolsonaro’s government on Friday morning revoked a decree barring members of Nicolás Maduro’s administration from entering the national territory.

Last weekend, a UOL report revealed that Lula skipped the presence of Venezuela’s president on January 1st. The reason was that there was a decree still from 2019 issued by Jair Bolsonaro which prevented the government of Caracas from entering the national territory.

For weeks, the transition team and Bolsonaro’s government have been negotiating a review of the law. But there was a refusal on the part of Planalto Palace. The situation was even explained to Maduro who, in private conversations, indicated that he understood the situation. However, Lula wanted all of South America to congregate in Brasilia, in a symbolic gesture to restart the process of regional integration.

In a decree published in the Official Gazette and signed by Ministers Antonio Ramirez Lorenzo (Justice) and Carlos França (External Relations), the decree that prevented the entry of the Venezuelan authorities, dated 19 August 2019, was revoked.

If the decree opens the way for a Venezuelan delegation, it is not guaranteed that there will be enough time to organize a trip to Maduro. One of the obstacles will be the security issue and the impossibility of an advance delegation arriving in Brasilia to prepare for the arrival of the President of Venezuela.

One option is to send a delegation headed by the Vice-Chair. Caracas, according to the discovered column, has already begun to prepare for a mission and has yet to decide who will represent the Bolivarian government at the inauguration this Friday.

In total, about 60 delegations will be in Brasilia.