Businessman Joesley Batista, owner of JBS, informed the government of President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva about the meeting he had with Venezuelan dictator Nicolás Maduro to persuade him to resign and thus allow a peaceful transition of power.

According to information obtained by the column, the Brazilian businessman's strategy is to leverage his close relationship with the President of the United States, Donald Trump, to act as a bridge in improving relations between Brazil and the United States. Joesley also has a direct line to the Brazilian president. The Presidential Palace was contacted but did not comment.

The column has learned that the J&F group wants to leverage its prominent role in these dialogues with international leaders as a rebranding strategy, repositioning the brand to focus on major issues.

This repositioning is an attempt to overcome the group's recent past. Elevated to the status of a global giant through loans from BNDES during the"National Champions" era of the first PT (Workers' Party) mandates, JBS saw its prestige melt away after the 2017 plea bargain, when the release of Joesley's audio recording with Michel Temer shook the Republic and resulted in the arrest of the Batista brothers.

Lula's return to power allowed Joesley to emerge from political isolation. His historical relationship with the PT (Workers' Party), which fostered the group's growth in the past, facilitated the reopening of doors to the Presidential Palace. His involvement in the Venezuelan crisis could reinforce this 'comeback,' allowing the businessman to exchange his image as an informant for that of a geopolitical strategist with privileged access to world leaders.

Officially, the J&F group stated that Joesley Batista is not a representative of any government and that it will not comment further.

Joesley's trip to Caracas was revealed by Bloomberg and confirmed by this column. The Brazilian met with Maduro on November 23rd, after the US president called the country's leader to urge him to leave Venezuela.

Bloomberg highlighted Joesley Batista's role as a mediator in attempting to ease political tensions between the Trump administration and Venezuela. The agency stated that Trump administration officials were aware of Batista's plans to visit Caracas, but he was not asked to travel on behalf of the U.S.

Batista's trip to Caracas occurred amid growing signs that the Trump administration is preparing military operations inside Venezuela. Washington has designated the Cartel de los Soles as a terrorist organization and accused Maduro of leading the scheme.

Since September, the United States has carried out several deadly attacks against vessels allegedly transporting drugs in the Caribbean and the Pacific, and accuses dictator Nicolás Maduro of leading a drug trafficking cartel.

Caracas denies this and argues that Washington's objective is to overthrow the Venezuelan president and seize control of the country's oil.

JBS owns Pilgrim’s Pride Corp., a Colorado-based chicken producer, which donated $5 million to Trump’s inauguration committee, the largest single donation. The agency also cited that JBS obtained approval from the Securities and Exchange Commission to list its shares in New York.

Batista met with Trump earlier this year to advocate for the removal of tariffs on beef. JBS is the world's largest meat supplier and has more than 70,000 employees in the United States and Canada.

In an interview with Estadão, he said that he spoke"well" of Brazil to the American president."We know a lot of people there, right? You have to speak well of Brazil, something that every Brazilian should do. Unfortunately, not every Brazilian speaks well of Brazil," Joesley said at the end of October, during a visit to Jakarta, the capital of Indonesia, as part of the business delegation invited to accompany Lula's visit.

Bloomberg also reinforced the Batista family's ties to Venezuela. Years ago, JBS and Maduro negotiated a $2.1 billion deal to supply beef and chicken to Venezuela at a time when the country was experiencing severe food shortages and hyperinflation.