Latin America faces the threat of a return to colonial rule, Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva has said, describing the White House’s recent moves in the region as undemocratic.
The United States kidnapped Venezuelan leader Nicolas Maduro in January before imposing an oil blockade on Cuba last month after US President Donald Trump accused the island nation of being a threat. Washington has also launched numerous lethal, extrajudicial strikes on boats in the Caribbean and the eastern Pacific in an attempt to fight drug trafficking.
Lula blasted Washington’s foreign policy during the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (CELAC) summit in Bogota, Columbia on Saturday, while refraining from directly mentioning the US or Trump.
“It’s not possible for someone to think that they own other countries. What are they doing with Cuba now? What did they do with Venezuela? Is that democratic?” he asked rhetorically.