Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva warned the U.S. against further escalating its campaign against Venezuela, saying "I don't want to get to a land invasion."
"I told President Trump, and I tell you, that political problems are not solved with weapons. They are solved with dialogue," Lula told press.
ÚLTIMA HORA | Lula sobre la escalada militar de EEUU y Venezuela: "No quiero que lleguemos a una invasión terrestre".
— AlbertoRodNews (@AlbertoRodNews) November 4, 2025
"Le dije al presidente Trump, y se lo repito a usted, que los problemas políticos no se resuelven con armas. Se resuelven con diálogo" https://t.co/VWKagcIrz3 pic.twitter.com/824M5O5GcP
"It's not necessary, not necessary. Police has all the right to fight against drug-trafficking. All the right and responsibility to do it, and the U.S. could be trying to help the countries. We do lack dialogue, and I have put myself at their disposal. Brazil can help, it has all the intention. We don't want conflicts in South America. Only verbal ones, that don't cause harm. It doesn't destroy bridges, it doesn't destroy rail tracks," Lula added.
His message was echoed by Colombian President Gustavo Petro, who has fiercely criticized the operations and has been sanctioned in the past weeks. "Neither invasion nor human rights violations in the fight against drug-trafficking," Petro said in a social media post.
Ni invasión ni violación de derechos humanos en la lucha antinarcotráfico. https://t.co/IupYVB2j6x
— Gustavo Petro (@petrogustavo) November 5, 2025
However, a former top military commander this week a 70% chance of the U.S. conducting land strikes in Venezuela. Concretely, former Supreme Allied Commander James Stavridis told CNN that the only "limiting factor at this point from a military perspective" is the fact that the "carrier USS Ford is not yet on station." "It will take them maybe 7 days to get on station. Then all the pieces are in place. The Pentagon will say the table is set for strikes. I think at that point President Trump has a big decision to make," the former admiral added.
Stavridis went on to predict that, should the administration effectively carry out strikes, "they are probably not going to, at least immediately, go after leadership targets" but "confine" them "to where the drugs are coming from."
"Then turn to Maduro and say 'last exit before the tunnel,'" Stavridis concluded.
Originally published on Latin Times
