Brazil, South America's most populous country and arguably among one of the continent's strongest democracies, will not observe upcoming legislative elections in Venezuela after the government of embattled President Nicolás Maduro vetoed Brasilia's choice to head its delegation.

The country's Superior Electoral Court (TSE), which had attempted to organize an oversight group under the auspices of the Union of South American Nations (UNASUR) bloc, said that Caracas had refused to accept Brazilian jurist and politician Nelson Jobim to lead the mission, the Associated Press reported.

The TSE "tried for the past few months to make sure that the (UNASUR) mission (to observe) the parliamentary elections in Venezuela in December could conduct its work of objective, impartial and in-depth observation," the body said in a statement.

The appointment of Jobim, a former chief justice of Brazil's Supreme Federal Court and defense minister under Presidents Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva and Dilma Rousseff, had been approved by Rousseff and the country's foreign ministry, the TSE noted. Given Venezuela's decision, however, the court decided to refrain from participating in the mission, it added.

Both the Wall Street Journal and Reuters categorized the tribunal's decision as a setback for Maduro, with the New York-based newspaper noting that the socialist leader in the past could often count on Brasilia's support, for instance when anti-government protests swept Venezuela last year.

But the brusque rejection of Jobim's caused uproar in the Brazilian capital, where the country's senate on Thursday condemned Venezuela's move.

"I would like to present my compliments and solidarity toward the former Minister Nelson Jobim," Senate President Renan Calheiros said, according to the body's official website. "I would also like to condemn ... the obstacles Venezuela is putting up with respect to the participation of (a Brazilian icon) monitoring the elections," Calheiros added.

The Dec. 6 vote, meanwhile, is seen as one of the most difficult for Maduro's ruling Socialist Party given the volatile and highly inflationary situation that has increasingly thrown Venezuela into chaos, Reuters noted.