Hugo Chávez brought about sweeping changes in Venezuela and became one of the most important and most divisive figures in Latin America — admired and praised by some, and abhorred by others.
During his government, from 1999 until his death in 2013, social and redistributive policies expanded significantly, while a process of military-supported autocratization also moved forward.
Under his successor, Nicolás Maduro, militarism and authoritarianism deepened even further. As Venezuela’s oil industry went into decline, Chavista social policies gave way to a landscape marked by deepening poverty and political repression.
Even so, these two Venezuelan leaders continued to loom large as political reference points across Latin America. In Brazil, in particular, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva’s relations with Chávez and Maduro are frequently invoked by the Brazilian opposition. Maduro’s capture by US President Donald Trump was celebrated by the right wing, and may become a central theme of Brazil’s presidential election in October.
Lula did not recognize Maduro’s 2024 election win, but his first two terms in office in the 2000s saw him make South American integration a top priority of Brazil’s foreign policy, and maintain close ties with the Hugo Chavez government of the time.
Venezuela held the world’s largest oil reserves. It was a country with limited development in other sectors, highly dependent on imports, and eager to challenge a US-led world order. Brazil, meanwhile, had industrial goods, construction companies looking to expand abroad, and ambitions to lead the political rise of the Global South. The partnership had the potential to be highly fruitful.
Since then, however, much has changed in both countries, and ambitious regional integration projects have stalled. Now the United States is once again pulling Venezuela back into its sphere of influence, and away from China and Russia — and Brazil appears to have little room to maneuver.
To understand Brazil-Venezuela relations in the 21st century — including the economic and political choices made by each country — our guests are:
Diplomat Rômulo Neves, telling us what he witnessed firsthand in Brazil-Venezuela diplomatic relations while serving at the Brazilian Embassy in Caracas in 2007, during Chávez’s government. He is currently Minister-Counselor at the Brazilian Embassy in Rwanda, and author of the book “Political Culture and Elements for Analyzing Venezuelan Politics,” published in Portuguese by Funag.
Our Latin America Editor, Ignacio Portes, discusses what has changed in those bilateral relations during Maduro's government.
They unpack:
The grounds on which Brazil and Venezuela grew closer in the 2000s;
How that relationship drifted apart in the following years;
Venezuela’s dependence on oil and its repercussions for foreign policy;
How Brazilian diplomacy is likely to adapt to new dynamics.
