The President of Venezuela, Nicolás Maduro, on Monday (11) praised the statement made by the head of the Brazilian Executive, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (PT), who said he respected Venezuelan institutions. According to Maduro, the speech was a “wise” reflection by the PT leader and he added: “Point in favor of Lula”.

“I agree with Lula. Each country has to find its own way of resolving its issues, its conflicts, its problems. Brazil with its institutions and its sovereign national dynamic, and Venezuela with our sovereign dynamic. I think that’s a wise reflection on Lula’s part. I could say: Point in favor of Lula,” said the Venezuelan on his weekly program Con Maduro +.

In an interview, Lula had said on Sunday (10) that he would not question the Supreme Court’s decision in other countries so that this criticism would not spill over into Brazil in the future. The Venezuelan Supreme Court of Justice (TSJ) validated the results of the July 28 elections, which saw Nicolás Maduro win with 51.97% of the vote against 43.18% for opposition leader Edmundo González Urrutia.

“I don’t have the right to question the Supreme Court of another country because I don’t want any country to question my Supreme Court, even when it makes mistakes. Even when it does what it did to me and doesn’t allow me to be a candidate in 2018,” said Lula.

According to the Brazilian president, Maduro is “Venezuela’s problem” and each president should take care of their own country, without interfering in the affairs of their neighbors. He also stressed that he cannot “fight” with other countries in the region, such as Nicaragua and Venezuela itself.

“I’ve learned that we have to be very careful when dealing with other countries and other presidents. I think Maduro is Venezuela’s problem, not Brazil’s problem. I want Venezuela to live well, for them to look after their people with dignity. I’ll take care of Brazil, Maduro will take care of him, the Venezuelan people will take care of Maduro, and I’ll take care of Brazil. And let’s move on. Because I can’t keep worrying either. Fighting with Nicaragua, fighting with Venezuela, fighting with I don’t know who. I just have to try to fight to make this country work,” said Lula

Lula’s speech was also praised by the Venezuelan interior minister, Diosdado Cabello. According to him, “it’s never too late” to recognize that this is an important position for the region.

“I would like the whole world to understand this before saying anything about Venezuela. Venezuela’s internal affairs are resolved by Venezuelans. There are people who let it slide and then say, ‘oh, I was wrong.’ We must respect our country and it’s good that President Lula is taking this position now. It’s never too late,” he said.

He also said that Venezuela will respect the internal decision of all countries, including the United States, which has been imposing sanctions against Venezuelans for seven years. According to Cabello, the US has its own system and decides how its elections are. “If you ask me if there is democracy there, for me there isn’t,” he said.

The tension between the two neighboring countries began in the Venezuelan electoral race. The Brazilian Superior Electoral Court (TSE) was going to send two observers to monitor the election, but backed out after Maduro claimed that the Brazilian ballot boxes “are not audited”. Instead of observers, the Brazilian government sent its special advisor, Celso Amorim, to Caracas during the elections.

Maduro was elected for a third term with 51.97% of the votes against 43.18% for the opposition candidate Edmundo González Urrutia. The Venezuelan opposition contested the result and claimed to have collected more than 80% of the copies of the electoral records and, according to the right-wing coalition Plataforma Unitaria, this would guarantee Urrutia’s victory.

This, coupled with reports of a hacker attack on Venezuela’s electoral system, led Maduro to call for an investigation by the courts. The electoral body delayed the release of the detailed results on the grounds of hacker activity, the Venezuelan Supreme Court of Justice (TSJ) investigated the alleged attacks, collected all the electoral material from the body and heard 9 of the 10 candidates who contested the ballot. Only Edmundo González Urrutia was absent.

The Brazilian government has begun to work with Colombia and Mexico to mediate in the Venezuelan electoral issue. The three governments have issued two joint notes calling for the CNE to publish the electoral records and not the country’s courts. The Venezuelan Supreme Court validated Maduro’s election and asked for the disaggregated results to be published within 30 days. However, more than three months after the election, the results have still not been published and the electoral body’s website is still down.

Lula then oscillated between calling for the situation to be resolved internally, suggesting that new elections be held and saying that he would not recognize Maduro’s victory if the results of the minutes were not published and, consequently, his victory at the polls were independently verified.

The relationship between Venezuela and Brazil stabilized momentarily until the BRICS summit, held in Kazan, Russia, from 22 to 24 October. At the summit, the Venezuelan government had hoped to be incorporated into the group as a “partner state”, but was left off the list of 13 new members by a veto from Brazil. Itamaraty’s decision outraged Venezuelans.

The reason for the veto was not publicly explained by Lula’s government. The president did not attend the event and sent his foreign minister, Mauro Vieira, to lead the delegation. Caracas claims that the decision was a “stab in the back” and that the Brazilian government’s “meddling” measure is a way of interfering in local politics.

At a hearing in the Chamber of Deputies, Amorim stressed that the issue of the ballot should be resolved by Venezuelans and that Brazil does not recognize the election of President Nicolás Maduro until the disaggregated results are presented. Amorim did not clearly explain the veto in the BRICS. First, he said that it is necessary to be a country with influence and that represents the region, something that, for him, Venezuela does not fulfill. Secondly, he mentioned the unease between the Brazilian and Venezuelan governments.

In response to the special advisor’s remarks, the Venezuelan government summoned the Venezuelan ambassador to Brazil, Manuel Vadell, for consultations. In a statement, Caracas said that the measure was taken after Amorim’s “interventionist and crude” statements. The Venezuelan Foreign Ministry also summoned Brazil’s chargé d’affaires in Caracas to express its “rejection” of the statements made by representatives of the Brazilian government in relation to the country’s electoral process.