Brazil Upholds Non-Intervention and Multilateralism on Venezuela at 2025 Mercosur Summit
At the 2025 Mercosur Summit, Brazil's President Lula emphasized a diplomatic approach based on non-intervention and multilateralism in handling Venezuela's crisis, reinforcing Brazil's historical foreign policy principles.
- • President Lula emphasized Brazil's non-interventionist stance on Venezuela at the Mercosur Summit in Brazil.
- • Brazil’s approach focuses on multilateralism and peaceful conflict resolution through international institutions like Mercosur and the UN.
- • Marcela Franzoni of Ibmec-SP highlighted that Lula’s stance reflects Brazil’s historical foreign policy and contrasts with interventionist U.S. policies.
- • Warnings were issued about the humanitarian and political risks of military intervention in Venezuela, underscoring the importance of Brazil’s diplomatic strategy.
Key details
At the Mercosur Summit held on December 20, 2025, in Foz do Iguaçu, Brazil, President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva articulated Brazil's diplomatic stance emphasizing non-intervention and multilateral efforts in addressing the Venezuelan crisis. The summit convened key South American leaders including Argentina’s President Javier Milei, Paraguay's Santiago Peña, Uruguay's Yamandú Orsi, Panama's José Raúl Mulino, and Bolivia's Foreign Minister Fernando Aramayo, underscoring the event’s regional significance.
Lula’s position reflects Brazil's historic foreign policy principles, prioritizing peaceful conflict resolution and the strengthening of international institutions such as Mercosur, the United Nations, and the World Health Organization. According to Marcela Franzoni, an International Relations professor at Ibmec-SP, Lula’s approach signals a clear commitment to multilateralism and Latin American regional autonomy, steering clear from the interventionist policies that marked the Trump administration.
Franzoni highlighted that Brazil’s diplomatic strategy seeks to solve conflicts through dialogue and regional cooperation rather than military action, warning against the broader humanitarian and political ramifications that a military intervention in Venezuela could provoke. This stance reinforces Brazil's role as a mediator advocating for peaceful solutions in Latin America while bolstering the capacity of multilateral organizations to maintain global and regional peace.
The Mercosur Summit, thus, not only reaffirmed Brazil’s leadership in regional politics but also demonstrated Lula’s commitment to a collaborative and non-intrusive approach towards Venezuela, contrasting sharply with calls for pressure tactics endorsed by some regional actors.
This article was synthesized and translated from native language sources to provide English-speaking readers with local perspectives.
