UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres calls for respect of sovereignty and expresses deep concern over US military operation that captured Venezuela’s leader.
UNITED NATIONS: UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has called for respect for national sovereignty following a US military operation in Venezuela.
The operation over the weekend resulted in the capture of Venezuelan leader Nicolas Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores.
Guterres urged “respect for the principles of sovereignty, political independence and territorial integrity of states,” according to remarks read at an emergency UN Security Council 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,” his statement added.
Colombia, which requested the meeting, also expressed concerns about US intentions through its ambassador Leonor Zalabata Torres.
The UN Charter permits “the use of force only under exceptional circumstances,” she stated, adding that it “does not amount to assuming political control of another state.”
US Ambassador Mike Waltz defended the action as a “surgical law enforcement operation” against “two indicted fugitives of American justice.”
“As Secretary (of State Marco) Rubio has said, there is no war against Venezuela or its people. We are not occupying a country,” Waltz said.
He added that “you cannot continue to have the largest energy reserves in the world under the control of adversaries of the United States.”
Britain called for a “safe and peaceful transition to a legitimate government” during the meeting.
Russia and China, allies of Venezuela, criticised Washington’s actions and demanded Maduro’s release.
Russian ambassador Vassily Nebenzia slammed the operation as a “harbinger of a turn back to the era of lawlessness and US domination by force.”
Venezuela’s representative Samuel Moncada asked the Security Council to demand the US “fully respect the immunities” of Maduro and Flores.
Maduro and his wife pleaded not guilty in a New York court on Monday.
