text: In May 2023, Lula warmly embraced and fully supported Venezuela’s authoritarian leftist President Nicolás Maduro.  Lula dismissed charges against Maduro of human rights and civil rights abuses as a political “constructed narrative.”  Lula was criticized by Uruguay’s President Luis Lacalle Pou, who said that the "worst thing we can do" is pretend there are no significant human rights problems in Venezuela, and by Chile’s President Gabriel Boric, who said that Lula was making light of human rights violations in Venezuela. Lula also criticized as "unjustified" U.S. sanctions on Venezuela for its alleged human rights abuses, and criticized the United States for denying the legitimacy of Maduro, who the U.S. said had not allowed free elections.
  Economy
  In March 2023 Lula reinforced the Bolsa Família program. The program was created during the first term of Lula and then significantly cut by Jair Bolsonaro. The program should help around 60 million Brazilians suffering from poverty. According to the World Bank estimates, the reinforced program will reduce the poverty rate in Brazil to 24.3% - the level before the COVID-19 pandemic.
  In August 2023, Lula announced a vast infrastructure investment program of over $350 billion over four years. Part of this sum is earmarked to finance the "My home, my life" social housing project. The program also includes 100 billion for energy and 65 billion for transport and roads. Education and health are also concerned, with the construction of schools and hospitals. The project also aims to boost economic growth and develop clean energy.