By Vivian Sequera and Lisandra Paraguassu
CARACAS/BRASILIA (Reuters) -The Venezuelan government on Wednesday said it was recalling its ambassador in Brazil over what it described as “repeated interventionist and rude statements” from Brasilia, adding it was also summoning Brazil’s business envoy for talks.
In a statement, Venezuela’s foreign ministry singled out the Brazilian president’s top foreign policy advisor Celso Amorim for “acting more like a messenger for North American imperialism” and accusing him of being “impertinently dedicated to issuing value judgments on processes that only correspond to Venezuelans and their democratic institutions.”
Brazil’s government did not immediately respond to a request for comment, but two Brazilian diplomatic sources told Reuters the country does not plan to respond in kind to Venezuela’s actions.
The head of Venezuela’s parliament, Jorge Rodriguez, had earlier on Wednesday proposed that lawmakers vote on declaring Amorim a persona non grata after accusing him of behaving like an envoy for U.S. National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan.
The diplomatic escalation comes after weeks of tensions following Venezuela’s disputed presidential election in late July.
After the vote, Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva joined many world leaders in calling for Venezuelan electoral authorities to publish official ballot-box tallies from the vote.
Maduro’s government has claimed victory but has yet to publish the tallies, while Venezuela’s opposition has published thousands of scanned copies of voting machine receipts obtained by its election observers that it says show a landslide win for its candidate.
Relations soured further earlier this month when Brazil vetoed Venezuela’s admission into the BRICS group of emerging economies, which Venezuela has branded as an “inexplicable and immoral aggression.”
The relationship between the two governments has become increasingly difficult, the Brazilian sources said, but their country will not be the one to further escalate the tensions.
At least 600,000 Venezuelans have migrated to Brazil in recent years, according to Brazilian government data, while in 2022 bilateral trade amounted to some $1.3 billion in Brazilian exports and $400 million in shipments from Venezuela.
(Reporting by Vivian Sequera in Caracas and Lisandra Paraguassu in Brasilia; Editing by Sarah Morland and Daniel Wallis)
