'Lula's unity summit turned divisive as he faced criticism to the welcome he gave to the Venezuelan president'
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00:00 Eleven of South America's 12 heads of state attended the Brasilia summit.
00:05 The only absence was the Peruvian president.
00:09 It's the first major gathering of regional leaders since 2014 and a platform for President
00:14 Luis Ignacio Lula da Silva to get South American countries cooperating again and working towards
00:21 integration.
00:23 "As long as we are divided, we will not make South America a continent developed to its
00:29 full potential.
00:31 Integration must be the permanent objective of all of us."
00:36 But Lula's unity summit turned divisive as he faced criticism for the welcome he gave
00:41 to the Venezuelan president Nicolas Maduro.
00:45 Maduro is a pariah in some quarters for his government's alleged human rights violations
00:50 and crackdown on political dissent.
00:53 Lula questioned that depiction as a hostile narrative.
00:58 It is left-wing president Gabriel Boric said he didn't agree with Lula's view.
01:03 "I respectfully stated that I had a discrepancy with what President Lula said yesterday in
01:09 the sense that the human rights situation in Venezuela was a constructed narrative.
01:15 It is not a constructed narrative.
01:17 It is a reality.
01:18 It is serious.
01:19 Human rights must always be respected, regardless of the political color of the ruler in power."
01:26 The meeting's joint statement said South America was committed to democracy, human
01:30 rights and social justice, adding that the leaders agreed to respect the principle of
01:35 non-interference in each other's internal affairs.