Brazilian President warns: US intervention in Venezuela would be catastrophic

(Patria) - Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva stated on Saturday that "armed intervention in Venezuela would be a humanitarian catastrophe" in the face of escalating actions by the United States towards its regional neighbor Venezuela, Reuters reported.

On Tuesday, US President Donald Trump ordered a "blockade" of all sanctioned oil tankers entering and leaving Venezuela, in Washington's latest move to increase pressure on Nicolas Maduro's government, targeting its main source of revenue.

Lula and Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum, leaders of the two largest South American economies, have already called for restraint this week as tensions escalated.

But on Saturday, during a summit of the South American bloc Mercosur in Foz do Iguaçu, a city in southern Brazil, Lula made a stronger statement against what he said would be a "dangerous precedent for the world".

More than four decades after the Falklands War between Argentina and the United Kingdom, he added, "the South American continent is once again haunted by the military presence of an extra-regional power".

In a joint statement after the Mercosur summit, Latin American leaders reaffirmed their commitment to respecting democratic principles and human rights in Venezuela through peaceful means.

The declaration was supported by the presidents of Argentina, Paraguay, and Panama, along with high-ranking officials from Bolivia, Ecuador, and Peru.