United Nations chief Guterres on Monday warned of the risk of heightened instability in Venezuela following the US capture of Maduro, as Washington told the Security Council it had no plans to occupy the country
United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Monday warned of the risk of heightened instability in Venezuela following the US capture of President Nicolas Maduro, as Washington told the Security Council it had no plans to occupy the country.
The 15-member council met at UN headquarters in New York just hours before Maduro was due to appear in a Manhattan federal court to face drug-related charges, including narco-terrorism conspiracy. Maduro has denied any criminal wrongdoing.
“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,” Reuters quoted Guterres as saying in a statement delivered to the council by UN political affairs chief Rosemary DiCarlo.
US Ambassador to the United Nations Mike Waltz said Washington had carried out “a surgical law enforcement operation facilitated by the US military against two indicted fugitives of American justice,” referring to Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores.
“As Secretary (of State Marco) Rubio has said, there is no war against Venezuela or its people. We are not occupying a country,” Waltz told the council, as he outlined the US case against Maduro.
“We’re not going to allow the Western Hemisphere to be used as a base of operation for our nation’s adversaries,” Waltz said. “You cannot continue to have the largest energy reserves in the world under the control of adversaries of the United States, under the control of illegitimate leaders, and not benefiting the people of Venezuela.”
Venezuela’s UN Ambassador Samuel Moncada denounced the US operation as “an illegitimate armed attack lacking any legal justification.”
He told the council that Venezuelan institutions were functioning normally, constitutional order had been preserved, and the state maintained effective control over its territory.
Guterres urged all Venezuelan actors to pursue an inclusive and democratic dialogue, saying: “I welcome and am ready to support all efforts aimed at assisting Venezuelans in finding a peaceful way forward.”
The UN chief also raised concerns that the US operation in Caracas on Saturday did not comply with international law, noting that the UN Charter requires member states to refrain from the threat or use of force against the territorial integrity or political independence of another state.
The United States has cited Article 51 of the UN Charter, which affirms the inherent right of individual or collective self-defence if an armed attack occurs against a UN member.
Russia, China and Colombia condemned the US military action as illegal. Most other council members avoided direct criticism of Washington, instead emphasising the need to uphold international law and the UN Charter.
“Unintelligible murmurings and attempts to avoid principled assessments by those who in other circumstances froth at the mouth and demand that others respect the UN Charter today seem particularly hypocritical and unseemly,” Russia’s UN Ambassador Vassily Nebenzia said.
Colombia, which requested Monday’s meeting, described the operation as a clear violation of Venezuela’s sovereignty, political independence and territorial integrity. Russia, China and Venezuela called on the United States to release Maduro and his wife.
Any formal Security Council action against Washington is unlikely, as the United States holds veto power alongside Russia, China, Britain and France.
With inputs from agencies
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