At the UN, even allies condemn US action in Venezuela

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By Editor_1
Samuel Reinaldo Moncada Acosta, Venezuela’s ambassador to the United Nations, holds up a printed news article as he speaks during a UN Security Council emergency meeting on the US raid in Venezuela at UN headquarters, on Monday (Jan. 5, 2026). The United States was roundly condemned at the emergency meeting for what even its staunch allies called a violation of international law in the capture of President Nicolás Maduro of Venezuela and the military incursion into a sovereign state -Dave Sanders/The New York Times

By Farnaz Fass

NEW YORK – The United States was condemned at an emergency meeting of the United Nations Security Council on Monday (5) for what even its staunch allies called a violation of international law in the capture of President Nicolás Maduro of Venezuela and the military incursion into a sovereign state.

The deputy French ambassador denounced the assault and Maduro’s apprehension, saying it “chips away at the very foundation of international order”.

The UN’s top official, Secretary-General António Guterres, said the Trump administration had violated the UN charter.

Colombia’s ambassador said it was reminiscent of bygone eras of American interference in the region and that the United States was undermining “international peace and security”.

Russia and China demanded the release of Maduro and his wife, and called for a halt to any further military action by the United States.

Guterres said in a statement read at the meeting: “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.” He called for a return to diplomatic dialogue and respect for international rules.

Monday’s meeting was the second time that the Security Council had convened a session recently to discuss actions that the United States, a permanent member, has taken regarding Venezuela that other nations said threatened the stability and security of the world order. In October, the council held a rare meeting on the deadly US strikes on Venezuelan boats that it alleged carried drugs bound for the United States.

“It is unusual for there to be two meetings focused on US action in the past month,” said Maya Ungar, a UN expert at the International Crisis Group. She said it “shows a pattern of increased American disregard for the tenets of the UN charter”.

The US ambassador to the UN defended his country’s ouster of Maduro, saying Monday that there was “no war against Venezuela or its people” and called Maduro a narcotics fugitive, not a head of state.

“We are not occupying a country. This was a law enforcement operation,” the ambassador, Mike Waltz, said during the council’s emergency meeting. He argued that the capture of Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, on drug charges made Latin America safer.

The council’s meeting at the headquarters of the UN in midtown Manhattan took place at the same time that Maduro and Flores were being arraigned at a federal court just 3 miles away, in lower Manhattan. They both pleaded not guilty to the charges. Maduro told a judge he had been “kidnapped” in the US military raid on Caracas on Saturday (3).

Several countries said the action in Venezuela was a violation of the charter, including US allies Bahrain, Brazil and Mexico.

Two European allies, Britain and Latvia, seemed to be more cautious.

“The United Kingdom wants to see a safe and peaceful transition to a legitimate government that reflects the will of the Venezuelan people,” said Archie Young, deputy ambassador to the UN for Britain.

China, which usually speaks in broad terms, was specific and harsh.

“We demand that the United States change its course, cease its bullying and coercive practices and develop relations in cooperation with regional countries on the basis of mutual respect, equality and non-interference in international affairs,” said a Chinese representative, Sun Lei.

France’s deputy UN ambassador, Jay Dharmadhikari, criticized Maduro’s rule, but said the operation undermined international rules and norms, and added that Venezuelans themselves must determine their political fate.

“The military operation which has led to the capture of Nicholas Maduro runs counter to the principle of peaceful dispute resolution and runs counter to the principle of non-use of force,” he said. He said the fact that a permanent member of the council would disregard international law and the UN charter, “chips away at the very foundation of the international order.”

Latin American countries also raised the alarm. In addition to the 15 members of the council and Venezuela, nearly a dozen other countries, including Brazil, Argentina, Mexico, Chile, Cuba, Nicaragua and Iran, had requested to participate in the meeting and address the council.

“Where are the foundations of international peace and security?” asked Colombia’s UN ambassador, Zalabata Torres. “It reminds us of the worst interference in our area, in our zone of peace.”

Unger also said the tone of condemnation from the two Latin American countries on the Council, Panama and Colombia, was “striking” and noted that more cautious comments from Britain and Latvia reflected concerns that if they pushed back hard on the United States in their hemisphere could impact the US approach toward Europe.

Vasily Nebenzya, Russia’s ambassador to the UN, said, “The American global gendarme is attempting to rear its head once again,” and asked the international community to unite and reject the “measures and tools of US military foreign policy”.

President Donald Trump suggested Sunday (4) that the United States could take action against other countries, including Colombia, Mexico and the semiautonomous Danish territory of Greenland. Asked whether that could mean a US operation against Colombia, he said, “It sounds good to me”.

The Security Council chamber and its semicircular seating arrangement often brings face-to-face diplomats from countries engaged in hostilities against one another in real time, from Russia and Ukraine to Israel and Iran, and on Monday, the ambassadors of Venezuela and the United States.

Venezuela’s UN ambassador, Samuel Moncada, sat sombre-faced throughout the meeting. He told the council that the US operation in Caracas opened the door to other countries taking similar action.

“If the kidnapping of a head of state and bombing are tolerated or downplayed, the message sent to the world is a devastating one, mainly that the law is optional and force is the true arbiter of international order,” Moncada said.

-New York Times

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