By Lisandra Paraguassu
BRASILIA, Dec 18 (Reuters) – Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva on Thursday said he will veto a bill passed by the country’s Congress to cut former President Jair Bolsonaro’s 27-year prison sentence for plotting a coup and also told journalists he wanted to reduce tensions between the United States and Venezuela.
Brazil’s Senate on Wednesday voted to approve the bill – which was passed by the country’s lower house last week – after Bolsonaro began serving his sentence in November for plotting a coup against Lula after losing the 2022 election.
“With all due respect to Congress, when it gets to my table, I will veto it,” Lula told a press conference. “I have the right to veto it, and then they have the right to overturn my veto or not.”
Lula also said he is willing to mediate talks between U.S. President Donald Trump and Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro in a bid to de-escalate tensions in the region amid a U.S. military buildup in the Caribbean.
“Before Christmas arrives, I might have to speak with President Trump again to find out how Brazil can contribute to achieving a diplomatic agreement and not a fratricidal war,” Lula told journalists.
(Reporting by Lisandra Paraguassu; Writing by Gabriel Araujo and Oliver Griffin; Editing by Aida Pelaez-Fernandez and Aurora Ellis)
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