The Daily Populous Sunday December 21st, 2025 morning edition
Authored by jamaicaobserver.com and submitted by fuggitdude22

FOZ DO IGUAÇU, Brazil (AFP)—Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva said Saturday that US military action in Venezuela would spark a “humanitarian catastrophe,” as he opened a summit of the South American Mercosur bloc.

Lula’s comments come amid spiraling tensions between Washington and Caracas — and after US President Donald Trump left open the possibility of war against the government of Venezuelan strongman Nicolas Maduro.

The US military has beefed up its presence in the Caribbean in recent months and carried out air strikes against alleged drug boats in the region and in the Pacific, claiming that it is combatting narcotics trafficking.

But Maduro says the campaign is part of a wider effort to carry out regime change in Caracas.

“Four decades after the Falklands war, the South American continent is once again haunted by the military presence” of a foreign power, Lula said in the southern city of Foz do Iguacu, referring to the 1982 UK-Argentina conflict over disputed islands in the South Atlantic.

“An armed intervention in Venezuela would be a humanitarian catastrophe for the hemisphere and a dangerous precedent for the world,” he said.

In an interview with NBC News conducted Thursday, when asked about the potential for war, Trump replied: “I don’t rule it out, no.”

On Thursday, Lula said he was “very worried” about the mounting crisis on Brazil’s doorstep and was prepared to serve as a mediator to avert armed conflict.

The 80-year-old leftist said he had told Trump that “things wouldn’t be resolved by shooting, that it was better to sit down around a table to find a solution.”

At least 104 people have been killed in the US strikes on alleged drug boats, though the Trump administration has not yet provided any concrete evidence that the boats it has targeted were ferrying drugs.

The US government has accused Maduro of leading the “Cartel of the Suns” — a charge he denies.

Trump has also announced a blockade on oil tankers under sanctions that are leaving or arriving in Venezuela.

fuggitdude22 on December 20th, 2025 at 23:42 UTC »

Brazil’s President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva delivered a forceful warning at the Mercosur summit that any military action in Venezuela, particularly by the United States, would not only intensify regional instability but precipitate a “humanitarian catastrophe” across the Western Hemisphere. Lula’s remarks come against the backdrop of escalating tensions between Washington and Caracas, with U.S. President Donald Trump openly refusing to rule out war and having recently ordered a blockade of Venezuelan oil shipments and increased military presence in the Caribbean. Lula framed such intervention as a dangerous precedent and reiterated Brazil’s preference for diplomacy and negotiated solutions, positioning himself as a potential mediator to avert broader conflict. His address invoked historical regional conflicts to underscore the risks of external military involvement. Meanwhile, Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro portrays U.S. pressure as an attempt at regime change, deepening an already fraught geopolitical dynamic.