The Russian representative castigated the blatant American “aggression” against Venezuela, joining China in calling for the release of the presidential couple whom the United States claims to be holding on the basis of “irrefutable evidence of their crimes”. An emergency meeting of the United Nations Security Council opened on 5 January in New York to examine what the organization describes as the “extradition” of Venezuelan president Nicolás Maduro by the United States. The discussions focus on the shockwave triggered by the American action, which the UN Secretary‑General has described as a “dangerous precedent” both in the region and globally. According to the UN, the fundamental principles of international law, sovereignty and the authority of the Council to respond to sudden escalations liable to destabilize the region are at stake.
Russia calls Maduro’s capture an “act of banditry”
In his address, the representative of the Russian Federation to the UN, Vassily Nebenzia, stated that the “indistinct murmurs and attempts to evade a harsh assessment by those who, in other situations, vehemently demanded that others respect the UN Charter, now seem particularly hypocritical and inappropriate”. He called for an end to “double standards” and urged members not to “justify such a flagrant act of aggression for fear of angering the American world policeman seeking to be reborn”. The Russian representative also described the American actions to seize Maduro as “an act of banditry against the Venezuelan leader, which caused several dozen deaths among Venezuelan and Cuban citizens”, and as “the sign of a return to an era of arbitrariness, American domination by force, chaos and lawlessness, from which dozens of States in various regions of the world continue to suffer”. “There is no justification, and there can be none, for the cynical crime committed by the United States in Caracas,” he insisted, strongly condemning what he called “an act of armed aggression by the United States against Venezuela, carried out in violation of all norms of international law”. Vassily Nebenzia called on the US authorities to “immediately free the legitimately elected president of an independent State and his wife”, urging Americans to “consult their own Constitution, whose first words are: ‘We the People of the United States’, and to begin truly recognizing the sovereignty of other States, rather than overthrowing undesirable regimes”.
China’s deep indignation
China’s representative to the Security Council, Fu Cong, expressed his country’s “deep indignation” and “strongly condemned the unilateral actions of the United States”. China also called “for the immediate cessation of attacks on the security of other States, the abandonment of attempts at regime change in Venezuela, and a return to a political solution based on dialogue and negotiation”, urging the United States “to guarantee the safety of President Maduro and his wife and to proceed without delay with their release”.
United States: “We are not at war with Venezuela or its people”
In his address to the UN Security Council, the US representative, Michael G. Waltz, stated that his country had “successfully carried out a surgical law‑enforcement operation, facilitated by the US military, against two indicted individuals who were attempting to evade American justice: narcoterrorist Nicolás Maduro and Cilia Flores”. He also accused the Venezuelan president “of attacks against the American people, of destabilizing the Western Hemisphere and of the illegitimate repression of the Venezuelan people”, stressing that the United States is not “at war with Venezuela or its people. We are not occupying the country. This is a law‑enforcement operation.” According to Michael G. Waltz, the Venezuelan presidential couple was transferred to the United States “to answer for their crimes”, with Nicolás Maduro “indicted by a grand jury in the Southern District of New York” and facing “very serious criminal charges for his involvement in a vast conspiracy of narcoterrorism, cocaine and other drug trafficking, as well as international arms trafficking”. He referred to “irrefutable evidence of his crimes”, which, he said, will be presented publicly before the US courts.
Antonio Guterres “deeply concerned”
The UN Deputy Secretary‑General, speaking on behalf of Antonio Guterres — absent from the meeting — conveyed his “deep concern” over “the possible escalation of instability in the country, the potential impact on the region, and the precedent this could set for relations between States”.