The United Nations has voiced deep concern over the dramatic US operation in Venezuela, warning that it clearly "undermined a fundamental principle of international law.”
"States must not threaten or use force against the territorial integrity or political independence of any state," Ravina Shamdasani, a spokeswoman for the UN human rights office, told reporters in Geneva.
Her comments came after Venezuelan president Nicolás Maduro and his wife Cilia Flores were forcibly taken by US commandos in the early hours of Saturday amid airstrikes on the Venezuelan capital backed by warplanes and a heavy naval deployment.
Shamdasani dismissed US justifications of the Venezuelan government's "longstanding and appalling human rights violations" for the raid.
"Accountability for human rights violations cannot be achieved by unilateral military intervention in violation of international law," she insisted.
Shamdasani highlighted that the UN rights office had for a decade consistently reported on "the continued deterioration of the situation in Venezuela.”
"We fear that the current instability and further militarisation in the country resulting from the US intervention will only make the situation worse."
‘Law enforcement operation’
The Trump administration does not want to occupy Venezuela, according to Washington’s envoy to the United Nations.
“We are not occupying a country, this was a law enforcement operation,” US ambassador to the UN Mike Waltz told an emergency meeting of the UN Security Council on Monday called to discuss the situation in Venezuela.
Waltz defended the US raid, arguing that Maduro was the head of a narco-terrorist group that floods the US with drugs and profited off the “misery” of both US citizens and Venezuelans, arguing that the US was acting on a pre-existing indictment.
At the same time, Waltz told the organisation that Trump had tried other ways to get Maduro to step down, calling him an illegitimate leader as well as a “fugitive from justice.”
He reiterated the administration’s claim that the US military action was about the country’s vast oil resources.
“You cannot continue to have the largest energy reserves in the world under the control of adversaries of the US, under the control of illegitimate leaders,” Waltz said. “President Trump gave diplomacy a chance. He offered Maduro multiple off-ramps.”
Cautious
Though US allies at the UN were mostly cautious in their remarks, Washington faced heat from a top UN official criticising the attack, saying it violated international law, could fuel instability in the region and set a precedent that could make violent conflicts more likely.
“I remain deeply concerned that rules of international law have not been respected,” Under-Secretary-General Rosemary DiCarlo said, noting that she was speaking on behalf of Secretary General Antonio Guterres.
The UN’s political chief issued a broad critique of the US raid in Caracas on Saturday that culminated with the capture of Maduro, who is now awaiting trial in New York.
Her comments reflect the broad concern among Washington’s allies following the US military action, as well as Trump’s fresh comments following the raid about seizing Greenland.
Venezuela’s envoy criticised the US action as a serious violation of international law and a blatant act of colonialism aimed at seizing his country’s strategic natural resources.
“Of particular seriousness is the kidnapping of the president of the republic,” Samuel Reinaldo Moncada Acosta told the UN meeting, adding that it “constitutes a direct violation of an essential norm of the international legal order, namely the personal immunity of heads of state in office.”
Russia, China condemnation
The US raid was also predictably condemned by Venezuelan allies Russia and China. Vasily Nebenzya, Moscow’s envoy to the UN, said the assault on Caracas was a “harbinger of a turn back to the era of lawlessness and US domination by force.” He said the US did not try to hide that toppling Maduro was motivated by a desire for “unbridled control” of Venezuela’s vast oil resources.
China was “deeply shocked” by the “illegal and bullying” US actions, Beijing’s Chargé d’Affaires Sun Lei said. “No country can act as the world’s police,” he told the meeting.
Some US allies, such as France and Denmark, emphasised the importance of following international law, but acknowledged the threat posed by Maduro.
At the same time, the United Kingdom focused on the harm Maduro caused Venezuela, and emphasised securing a prosperous future for the country – with only a brief mention that countries should adhere to the UN charter.
Argentina’s envoy, Francisco Fabián Tropepi, had some of the warmest words for the US action, calling Trump’s move in Venezuela a “decisive step” that could help improve the country.
– TIMES/BLOOMBERG/AFP
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