UNITED NATIONS (AP) — U.S. allies and adversaries expressed their opposition to bold U.S. military action in Venezuela and the capture of leader Nicolás Maduro at an emergency meeting of the U.N. Security Council on Monday.
Countries before the United Nations’ most powerful body condemned President Donald Trump’s intervention in the South American country and his recent comments signaling the possibility of expanding military action to countries such as Colombia and Mexico over drug trafficking accusations. The Republican president also renewed his threat to take over the Danish territory of Greenland for U.S. security interests.
Denmark, which has jurisdiction over the mineral-rich island, cautiously condemned the prospect of a U.S. takeover of Greenland without mentioning its NATO ally by name.
“The inviolability of borders is non-negotiable,” said Denmark’s ambassador to the United Nations, Kristina Markus Larsen.
She also defended Venezuela’s sovereignty, saying “no country should influence political outcomes in Venezuela through the threat of force or through other means inconsistent with international law.”
U.S. allies push back against Venezuela
While French President Emmanuel Macron has recently backed Maduro’s capture, his U.N. envoy was slightly harsher in his criticism on Monday, saying any violation of international law by the five permanent members of the U.N. Security Council, including the United States, would erode “the foundations of the international order.”
France’s deputy ambassador to the United Nations, Jay Damadicari, said: “The military operation that led to Maduro’s arrest violates the principle of peaceful settlement of disputes and the principle of non-use of force.”
U.S. envoy Mike Waltz defended the operation in Venezuela as a legitimate, “surgical law enforcement operation” and called on the 15-member commission to criticize the operation against Maduro.
“If the United Nations gives legitimacy to illegal narco-terrorists in this body and gives the same treatment to democratically elected presidents or heads of state in its charter, what kind of organization is this?” said Walz, Trump’s former national security adviser.
U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said in a statement that he was “deeply concerned that the military operation on January 3 did not comply with the rules of international law.” He said the “serious” actions by the United States could set a precedent for future relations between the countries.
Venezuela calls on UN to take action
Despite the strong support, Venezuela’s ambassador called on the United Nations to do more than issue veiled comments and condemnations.
Venezuelan Ambassador Samuel Moncada said: “If overt threats to kidnap heads of state, bomb sovereign states and further armed action are tolerated or downplayed, the message sent to the world will be devastating: that law is optional and that force is the true arbiter of international relations.”
He warned that other countries could not stand idly by: “Accepting such logic means opening the door to a world of extreme instability.”
Venezuela’s neighbor Colombia said the attack was reminiscent of “the worst disturbances in our region in the past.”
“Democracy cannot be defended or promoted through violence and coercion, nor can it be replaced by economic interests,” Sarabata said.
China and Russia expected to be critical
China and Russia, the biggest critics of U.S. foreign policy and permanent members of the Security Council, have called on U.N. agencies to unite and reject a U.S. return to an “era of lawlessness.”
Maduro, like his predecessors, has developed close ties with Russia, while China is the main destination for much of Venezuela’s oil.
Russian Ambassador Vasily Nebenzya said: “We cannot allow the United States to claim to be some kind of supreme judge. Only the United States has the right to invade any country, label criminals, order and carry out punishments regardless of international law, sovereignty and the concept of non-interference.”
Earlier on Saturday, the United States seized Maduro and his wife from their home on a military base and put them aboard a U.S. warship to face a Justice Department indictment in New York accusing them of participating in a narco-terrorism conspiracy. Maduro declared his innocence during his first appearance in a Manhattan court on Monday.
His ouster comes as a shock, months after the United States built a military presence off Venezuela’s coast and blew up ships suspected of drug trafficking. Trump insists the United States will administer Venezuela, at least temporarily, and use its vast oil reserves to sell to other countries.
However, Secretary of State Marco Rubio said the United States would impose oil quarantines already in place on sanctioned tankers and use that leverage to push Venezuela to change its policy.
