US envoy says US-backed operation nabs Maduro and wife as fugitives
Guterres called on all Venezuelan actors to engage in inclusive and democratic dialogue. PHOTO: FILE
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres expressed concern on Monday about growing instability in Venezuela following the US arrest of President Nicolas Maduro, while the United States said it had no plans to occupy the Latin American country.
The 15-member Security Council met at UN headquarters in New York hours before Maduro was due to appear in Manhattan federal court on drug charges, including conspiracy to commit narco-terrorism. Maduro has denied any criminal involvement.
“I am deeply concerned about the possible intensification of instability in the country, the possible repercussions in the region and the precedent it may set for the way relations between and among states are conducted,” Guterres said in a statement delivered to the Council by UN political affairs chief Rosemary Di Carlo.
No occupation
U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Mike Waltz told the Security Council that the United States conducted “a surgical law enforcement operation facilitated by the U.S. military against two accused fugitives from U.S. justice,” referring to Maduro and his wife, Celia Flores.
Read more: Maduro pleads not guilty to narco-terrorism after US arrest
“As Secretary of State Marco Rubio has said, there is no war against Venezuela or its people. We do not own a country,” Waltz said, laying out Washington’s case against Maduro.
“We are not going to allow the Western Hemisphere to be used as a base of operations for our nation’s adversaries,” Waltz said. “You cannot continue to have the largest energy reserves in the world under the control of the adversaries of the United States, under the control of illegitimate leaders and not benefit the people of Venezuela.”
Venezuela’s UN ambassador Samuel Moncada called the US operation “an illegal armed attack that lacks legal justification.” He said Venezuela’s institutions are functioning normally, constitutional order has been preserved and the state has maintained effective control over its territory.
Guterres called on all Venezuelan actors to engage in inclusive and democratic dialogue, adding: “I welcome and am ready to support all efforts aimed at helping Venezuelans find a peaceful way forward.”
International Law
Guterres also expressed concern that the US operation in Caracas on Saturday did not respect international law. The Charter of the United Nations states that members “shall refrain in their international relations from the threat or use of force against the territorial integrity or political independence of any State”.
The United States cited Article 51 of the United Nations Charter, which affirms the right of individual or collective self-defense in the event of an armed attack against a member state.
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Russia, China and Colombia have condemned the US military operation as illegal. Most other members of the Security Council avoided direct criticism of Washington, stressing instead the importance of upholding international law and the UN Charter.
“Unintelligible mutterings and attempts to avoid principled assessments by those who otherwise froth and demand others to respect the UN Charter today seem particularly hypocritical and indecent,” said Russia’s UN Ambassador Vassily Nebenzia.
Colombia, which requested the meeting, said the US action violated Venezuela’s sovereignty, political independence and territorial integrity. Russia, China and Venezuela have called on the United States to release Maduro and his wife.
Any action by the Security Council is unlikely, as the United States has veto power along with Russia, China, Britain and France.
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