MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Venezuelan ambassador returns to Brasilia

Vadell resuming his functions ended the diplomatic dispute between the two countries after Brazil's veto to the Chavista country joining BRICS

Venezuela's Ambassador to Brazil Manuel Vadell returned to Brasilia on Thursday after two weeks in Caracas for consultations, thus ending the diplomatic crisis between the two countries. The diplomat announced this move through a video published on social networks. He had been summoned to Venezuela on Oct. 30, after Nicolás Maduro's regime said that statements by Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva's Foreign Affairs Advisor Celso Amorim were “interfering and rude.”

In his message, Vadell also pointed out that Venezuelan nationals residing in Brazil would have their passports available at the Embassy starting Nov. 18. The measure applies to those who applied for these documents between Aug. 24 and Nov. 1.

Vadell resuming his functions is consistent with recent explanations from Brazil's Foreign Minister Mauro Vieira, who insisted that despite their differences, Brazil does not contemplate breaking diplomatic relations with Venezuela. However, Brazil remains critical of the controversial July 28 polls whereby Maduro was announced to have been reelected even with no documentation to back it up while the opposition Unitarian Democratic Platform (PUD) published voting minutes for 83% of the stations proving Edmundo González Urrutia's unsurmountable victory.

Caracas had been enraged by Brazil's thumbs down at the BRICS Summit in Kazan, Russia, during which other countries such as Cuba and Bolivia were granted associate membership to the bloc. But “it does not mean that Brazil should break relations with Venezuela,” Vieira argued. Speaking before Brazil's Congressional Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee, he went on to stress that “dialogue and negotiation and not isolation are the key to any peaceful solution in Venezuela.”

Earlier this week, Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva claimed that Maduro was Venezuela's problem, not Brazil's.