Nicolas Maduro and Lula’s guards attacked journalists after the summit in Brazil

The guards of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, with the support of Lula da Silva’s security agents, brutally attacked journalists who, on the night of this Tuesday, the 30th, were trying to collect some kind of statement from the Venezuelan following the summit. South America, which was held in the capital of Brazil, Brasilia.

Globo journalist Delis Ortiz had to seek medical attention after one of her attackers punched her hard in the chest.

Physical attacks on journalists – common under the current authoritarian regime in Venezuela but unthinkable in Brazil – occurred when Nicolás Maduro, who had refused to speak to the press during his three days in Brazil, left the room where the presidents of 12 South American countries met. .

In an attempt to get a statement from Maduro, who was simply ignored and despised by other presidents but highly praised by Lula da Silva, journalists covering the high-level meeting tried to approach the Venezuelan, surrounded by a legion of Venezuelan guards. and GSI, the Brazilian Institutional Security Bureau in charge of Lula’s security, but they were violently stopped.

First, the security of Maduro and Lula further closed the human cordon protecting the ruler of a neighboring country, and as the reporters, in their legitimate role, insisted on collecting some kind of statement, the agents began aggression.

Reporters, men and women, were forcibly pushed away from Maduro, who watched with a grim expression that he displayed throughout the summit, and then, in the face of insistence, indignation and outrage from members of the press, Maduro and Lula’s guards escalated violence against to journalists who were attacked with punches, slaps and kicks and had to retreat before any of the agents drew a gun and did something worse.

All this happened in the middle of the Itamaraty Palace, the headquarters of the Brazilian Foreign Ministry, and several heads of state were in the building. And the journalists had no one to turn to, since who could and should have protected them, Lula da Silva’s GSI agents helped the Venezuelan guards attack the press.

GSI and Itamaraty issued communiqués promising to investigate responsibility, and several press outlets denied the accusations. Until this Wednesday, Brazilian President Lula da Silva did not express his condemnation of the attacks on journalists or his solidarity with those who were attacked, even Delis Ortiz, who was very weak and suffering, but according to doctors, you will not have more serious consequences.

By the way, Lula’s position before and during the South American Summit, profusely praising Nicolás Maduro, whom he called a longtime friend and brother, and denying that what he called the alleged dictatorship in Venezuela does not exist and is a “narrative” invented by the United States. , caused a lot of concern at the high-level meeting.

Almost all other presidents have been embarrassed and outraged by Lula’s support for the internationally condemned dictator, and two of them, Lacalle Paul of Uruguay, on the right, and Gabriel Boric of Chile, on the left, have publicly expressed their outrage, trying to urge the press and say they disagree with Lula, emphasizing that Venezuela lives under a dictatorship, yes, that censors the press, systematically violates human rights, and arrests or kills anyone who dares to challenge Maduro and his government.