U.S. Criticized Over Venezuela by Allies and Adversaries Alike at U.N. Meeting
The Trump Administration's military operations in Venezuela drew condemnation from both U.S. allies and adversaries at the Monday meeting.
The Trump Administration’s military intervention in Venezuela drew condemnations from both U.S. allies and adversaries at an emergency meeting of the United Nations Security Council on Monday following the capture of Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro.
French U.N. envoy Jay Dharmadhikari said that the U.S.-led operation to seize Maduro “chips away at the very foundation of international order.”
“The military operation that has led to the capture of Maduro runs counter to the principle of peace dispute resolution and runs counter to the principle of non-use of force,” Dharmadhikari said.
U.N. Secretary General António Guterres, the intergovernmental organization’s top official, said the U.S. had violated the U.N. charter, which says that member countries “shall refrain in their international relations from the threat or use of force against the territorial integrity or political independence of any state,” and called for diplomacy.
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“I am deeply concerned about the possible intensification of instability in the country, the potential impact on the region, and the precedent it may set for how relations between and among states are conducted,” Guterres said.
Danish ambassador to the U.N. Christina Markus Lassen also spoke in defense of Venezuelan sovereignty, noting that “no state should seek to influence political outcomes in Venezuela through the use of threat of force or through other means inconsistent with international law.”
Following Maduro’s apprehension, Trump again said he wanted to annex Greenland, an autonomous territory within the Kingdom of Denmark. Lassen did not specifically reference the threat during the U.N. meeting, but stressed, “The inviolability of borders is not up for negotiation.”
Russia and China, historical allies of Venezuela and prominent critics of U.S. foreign policy, denounced the actions as well.
“We cannot allow the United States to proclaim itself as some kind of a supreme judge, which alone bears the right to invade any country, to label culprits, to hand down and to enforce punishments irrespective of notions of international law, sovereignty and nonintervention,” said Russian ambassador Vassily Nebenzia.
Both countries demanded the release of Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, who was also arrested on Saturday, and called for a stop to any further military action in Venezuela.
“Where are the foundations of international peace and security?" Colombia’s U.N. ambassador Zalabata Torres asked at the Monday meeting. “It reminds us of the worst interference in our area, in our zone of peace.”