In an interview today on cable news, Brazilian Vice President Hamilton
Mourao has said that Brazil is insisting on a non-violent resolution to
the Venezuela power struggle. Moreover, he said that under no circumstances would Brazil allow the United States to use their territory for a military invasion.
This is an important position to take, because it is not entirely
theoretical. The Trump Administration has been openly talking up the
possibility of invading Venezuela for weeks now, and on Monday, Vice
President Mike Pence reiterated that invasion remains on the table.
It’s not clear that the US was envisioning using Brazil as a base of
operations for that, however. Early suggestions have been that Colombia
would serve as the launching pad for such an attack, with John Bolton
talking up large US deployments there.
Which isn’t to say that Brazil’s opposition doesn’t have any meaning.
Brazil is a close US ally, and had been supportive of the push for
regime change in Venezuela. If that excludes support for a US war, it
could be a big change in the administration’s expectations on regional
reaction to an invasion.
Brazil VP: US Can’t Use Brazilian Soil to Invade Venezuela
Brazil insists on non-violent resolution for Venezuela
Jason Ditz is Senior Editor for Antiwar.com. He has 20 years of experience in foreign policy research and his work has appeared in The American Conservative, Responsible Statecraft, Forbes, Toronto Star, Minneapolis Star-Tribune, Providence Journal, Washington Times, and the Detroit Free Press.
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