The meeting of the UN Security Council, called this Monday (5) as a matter of urgency, was marked by appeals from dictatorships allied with the Venezuelan regime for the release of the ousted dictator Nicolás Maduro.
Russia’s representative to the United Nations, Vasily Nebenzya, condemned what he called a US “criminal operation” in Venezuela, which resulted in the arrest of the Chavista leader and his wife, Cilia Flores. Moscow “demanded” their “immediate” release.
The Russian described the US military action as “an act of aggression” and warned that the so-called “rules-based world order”, promoted by Washington and some of its allies, has been applied “selectively, according to political interests”, generating “negative consequences for international stability”. The country accused the US of being “hypocritical and cynical”.
The Russian ambassador stated that “US actions are generating momentum for a new moment for neocolonialism and imperialism.”
China, in turn, which earlier this Monday had appealed for Maduro’s release, also renewed its condemnation of the American operation on Venezuelan soil during the UN meeting.
The Chinese representative stated that no country in the world has the power to “act as a police force or an international court.”
Represented by the Under-Secretary-General for Political Affairs, Rosemary A. DiCarlo, the UN Secretary-General, António Guterres, expressed this Monday his “deep concern” about US military action in Venezuela and asked the Security Council to respect international law, which “prohibits the use of force against the territorial integrity of States”.
He also expressed concern about the potential “intensification of internal instability” in Venezuela and the impact the situation could have on the region, urging all Venezuelan actors to participate in an “inclusive and democratic dialogue that respects human rights, the rule of law and the sovereignty of the people.”
During his speech, DiCarlo cited the serious crisis experienced in Venezuela in recent years and recalled the presidential elections of July 2024, whose transparency was questioned by the international community, as well as the “serious human rights violations documented” by the Office of the High Commissioner in relation to the Maduro regime.
US denies before the UN that it is at war with Venezuela
The United States denied this Monday, before the UN Security Council, that it is at war with Venezuela and rejected the idea that Maduro’s arrest and subsequent decision to govern the country until a political transition occurs constitutes an occupation.
“There is no war against Venezuela or its people. We are not occupying any country,” said US Ambassador to the UN Michael Waltz.
According to the American representative at the United Nations, the operation that resulted in the Venezuelan dictator’s arrest is merely “compliance with the law”, as he was wanted by the US courts.
“(Maduro) was a fugitive from American justice and directly responsible for the deaths of thousands of Americans.”
The ambassador added that “Maduro was not only a drug trafficker, he was an illegitimate president, he was not a state leader. For years, they manipulated the electoral system to stay in power.”