RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – The government of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro announced on Tuesday that it had sent a letter to the Secretary-General of the United Nations, António Guterres, accusing the government of Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro of “negligence” in the fight against the Covid-19 pandemic and stating that this stance “threatens the whole of South America”. The decision of the Miraflores Palace was published by Chancellor Jorge Arreaza on Twitter.
In the same letter, published by the chavista chancellor, Venezuela calls for the United Nations’ intervention to demand that the Bolsonaro government “act responsibly”. “Today we can state, with no fear of being wrong, that President Jair Bolsonaro and his government have become the worst enemy in our efforts to emerge victorious from the Covid-19 pandemic in Latin America and the Caribbean,” reads the text sent to the United Nations. The Miraflores Palace mentions the substitution of Health Ministers and Brazil’s plan, following in the footsteps of Donald Trump’s US government, to abandon the World Health Organization (W.H.O.).
“The catastrophe suffered by Brazil as a consequence of Covid-19 will undoubtedly impact the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela and all the countries in the region… by June 15th, Venezuela has recorded 3,062 confirmed cases of coronavirus. In the Brazilian border states alone, 62,000 confirmed cases have been reported. In the opinion of the Maduro government, Brazil today “lacks a coherent policy to contain the pandemic”.
Numbers challenged
The letter sent by Chancellor Arreaza came as a surprise to members of the Venezuelan opposition led by Juan Guaidó, elected to lead the National Assembly (AN) but unrecognized by the Miraflores Palace. Currently, several chavista government diplomats who were expelled by the Brazilian government are refusing to return to Venezuela, backed by a Brazilian Supreme Court (STF) ruling citing the risks they would be taking if they were to leave the country.
The Venezuelan opposition accuses the Maduro government of manipulating official pandemic statistics since the start of the self-proclaimed Bolivarian revolution in 1999 and of destroying the public health system. Guaidó says he has implemented programs to help Venezuelan doctors, and advocates the creation of an emergency government to tackle the health crisis. His allies have already signed agreements with the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO), among others. At the same time, the Venezuelan opposition is resisting the calling of legislative elections later this year, while the same electoral authorities, controlled by Maduro, remain in power.
Source: O Globo