Brazil warns ‘no alternatives’ to democracy in Venezuela

UNITED NATIONS, United States: Brazil’s leader on Tuesday warned that there were "no alternatives to democracy" in Venezuela as he voiced solidarity with the people of the crisis-consumed nation.

President Michel Temer, addressing the UN General Assembly where Brazil is the customary first nation in the annual marathon of leaders’ speeches, noted that his country has taken in thousands of Venezuelans.

"The human rights situation in Venezuela has regrettably deteriorated continuously," Temer said.

"We stand by and support the Venezuelan people with whom we are linked by brotherly connections," he said. "There is no longer room for alternatives to democracy and that is precisely what we have asserted in Mercosur and that is what we will keep advocating," Temer said, referring to the South American trading bloc.

The right-leaning Temer has himself faced questions of legitimacy, with the president and one third of his cabinet under investigation in myriad corruption probes. Venezuela has been going through months of deadly protests, with critics accusing leftist President Nicolas Maduro of a naked power grab in July with the formation of a Constituent Assembly packed with his allies, wresting power from the opposition-dominated legislature.