Brazil’s Lula Says Chavez Should Prepare A Successor
By MISNA
“There have been elections in Venezuela featuring two people in the running, Capriles and Chavez, and I believed that Chávez was the best choice for Venezuela. Now, I also believe that Comrade Chavez should start preparing for his succession,” said the former Brazilian president Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (2003-2010), prominent voice of the regional political landscape, in an interview with the newspaper La Nación of Buenos Aires, commenting the Venezuelan elections of October 7.
The Constitution of Venezuela “allows Chavez to be run for a fourth time, but if he loses, his opponents will also be able to run as many times as they wish and I do not think this is good,” added Lula who has always been a supporter of the colleague. “For this, I myself have not run for a third term. Should I have done so, I would have ended up wanting a fourth and then a fifth. For democracy the balance of power is an achievement of humanity and this should be upheld.”
According to Lula, “South America has gained much with Chávez. Because before him, even sanitary equipment was imported from the United States, while today are imported from Argentina, Brazil and other countries. Venezuela has begun to look to Latin America and that is why I defended its entry into the Mercosur (regional common market). ” If you compare the “Venezuela of Chavez” with “Venezuela before Chávez, the country has improved greatly and the poor population has earned dignity.”
Visiting the Argentine capital, where he was received by President Cristina Fernández, Lula also focused on the decision to suspend Paraguay from Mercosur after the controversial dismissal in June of the democratically elected head of State Fernando Lugo.
“You can not allow for policy to be made this way. If you do not respect the will of the people who elect persons expected to fulfill their mandate and are instead driven away, democracy will weaken. Lugo would have finished his term next year, I consider Mercosur’s decision as correct.”
