Can Latin America still trust Nicolas Maduro? Apparently, Brazilian President Lula and his Colombian counterpart Gustavo Petro still want to believe it. After several weeks of impasse in the political crisis in Venezuela, they are once again trying to mediate, at the risk of legitimizing the authoritarian power in place in Caracas.
Venezuela’s president officially won a third term in office in a July 28 election. His victory, proclaimed the day after the election, was confirmed last week by the Supreme Court, which is entirely controlled by Nicolas Maduro. But the official result was immediately contested by the opposition, whose protests were brutally repressed. The death toll stands at 27. The regime accuses the opposition of fomenting the violence and an investigation has been opened against the opposition candidate, Edmundo Gonzalez Urrutia.
