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    Brazil’s Lula Says Maduro Should Face Justice in Venezuela Not Abroad

      Brazil's Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva in an image from 2021.

      Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva took a diplomatic stance Friday on the detention of Nicolas Maduro, asserting that the Venezuelan leader must face legal accountability within his own borders rather than in a foreign courtroom.

      The comments at the Artificial Intelligence Summit in India follow the abduction of Maduro in Caracas by the US on Jan. 3.

      “I am of the firm belief that if Nicolás Maduro is to stand trial, he should be tried in Venezuela, not abroad,” Lula told India Today TV, emphasizing a commitment to national jurisdiction over international intervention.

      He stressed that fate of Venezuelan president should be determined by the people of Venezuela and “not by foreign interference.”

      Lula said the ultimate objective remains the “restoration of democracy in Venezuela,” but the methods used to achieve it must respect the fundamental principles of national sovereignty.

      He argued that the international community cannot set a precedent where a sitting head of state is forcibly captured by another nation. He drew a parallel to legal disputes involving Brazilian citizens in the US, maintaining his long-standing position that individuals should be prosecuted in their home countries according to their own constitutional frameworks.

      In the early hours of January 3rd, US forces struck Venezuelan infrastructure from the air. Within hours, a small American military unit landed in Caracas. By nightfall, Venezuela’s elected president, Nicolás Maduro, and his wife, Cilia Flores, had been abducted and flown out of the country.

      Source: Agencies