Military actions or covert operations could destabilize South America, Diplomat Amorim warned.

On Thursday, Celso Amorim, international affairs adviser to Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva and former foreign minister, warned that the risk of U.S. President Donald Trump interfering in Venezuelan affairs is real.

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“It would be very naïve to say that this will not happen, but experience shows that the situation is taken to an extreme before a negotiation. We remain optimistic,” he told CNN Brazil.

His remarks came after Trump admitted that he had authorized military options and CIA covert operations to overthrow Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro.

Amorim stressed that Brazil will maintain its commitment to the diplomatic resolution of conflicts and to the principle of nonintervention, which have been pillars of its foreign policy since the postwar period.

“Brazil is against the use of force and against secret operations; we remain faithfully committed to the policy of nonintervention. This is a basic principle of international law,” he said, adding that South America would be destabilized as a result of any military attack or clandestine espionage action against Venezuela and its authorities.

With about 1,240 miles of shared border with Venezuela, Brazil fears that a U.S. intervention could trigger a large-scale humanitarian crisis, with mass displacements toward the state of Roraima and a direct impact on Amazonian communities.

“A conflict in Venezuela would not only endanger the continent’s political stability but also the security of millions of people along Brazil’s northern border,” Amorim warned, insisting that Brazil’s priority must be “to prevent war from returning to South America.”

To that end, Brazil proposes strengthening regional dialogue mechanisms such as the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (CELAC) and the Union of South American Nations (UNASUR), two institutions that could play a crucial role if tensions between Caracas and Washington escalate.

“History shows that when the empire crosses the line of diplomacy, the people pay the price. Brazil will not be complicit in another war on the continent,” Amorim concluded.

In a recent phone conversation, Lula da Silva told Trump that he rejects any measure involving the use of force and emphasized the need to keep diplomatic channels open with Venezuelan President Maduro.

teleSUR/ JF

Sources: UOL – CNN

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