MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Nin Novoa becomes Uruguay's new Ambassador to Brazil

During Vázquez's first presidency (2005-2010), Nin Novoa was vice president

Former Uruguayan Foreign Minister Rodolfo Nin Novoa, who served under late President Tabaré Vázquez (2015-2020), has presented his credentials as the country's new Ambassador to Brazil. During Vázquez's first presidency (2005-2010), Nin Novoa was Vice President.

Itamaraty welcomed the new representative, underscoring the high-level diplomatic relations between the two countries, citing their shared border and strong economic, social, and cultural ties. Brazil's Foreign Ministry also recognized Uruguay's “fundamental role” as “an important partner” in promoting regional integration in forums such as Mercosur, the Brasilia Consensus, and Celac.

Nin Novoa made headlines earlier this week for his remarks regarding Venezuela's regime, which he described as “authoritarian.” He said it restricted human rights and has a “serious democratic deficit.” He also noted that Uruguay had previously taken actions against Venezuela, such as suspending it from Mercosur for violating the democratic clause. Additionally, he criticized the disenfranchisement of opposition leader María Corina Machado and recalled being personally accused of colluding with the US.

“Venezuela has a serious democratic deficit, without a doubt. What we have to do with Venezuela is send signals like the ones we sent: not appointing a political ambassador to that country, suspending it from Mercosur—when it violated the democratic clause,” Nin Novoa said.

Foreign governments should “promote and encourage the possibility of dialogue between the parties so that they can resolve the problem among Venezuelans,” he added, while recalling that the Vázquez administration promoted the Montevideo mechanism with Mexico and the contact group with the European Union as a way to “seek solutions” between the opposition and the government.

[Venezuelan President Nicolás] ”Maduro accused me of colluding with the US State Department to destabilize the Venezuelan government. And President Vázquez sent him a letter telling him to rectify himself or provide evidence. He never did, obviously, because he cannot rectify himself and because he had no evidence to provide (because I don't think he even entered the State Department),“ Nin Novoa pointed out.

Nin Novoa also recalled how the Vázquez avoided recognizing the Juan Guaidó presidency, which implied the ”alteration of any basic democratic policy.”