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US attack against Venezuela left 100 dead, Venezuela's interior ministry said.
US European Command said it has seized an empty oil tanker linked with Venezuela and registered as a Russian vessel in the North Atlantic in an operation.
The United States' seizure of Venezuela's President Nicolás Maduro marks a dramatic escalation in Washington's long-standing practice of using force in Latin America to apprehend foreign leaders under domestic criminal indictments. While extraordinary, this episode is not without precedent. In Dec 1989, the United States invaded Panama to arrest General Manuel Noriega on drug trafficking charges, forcibly transferring him to the United States for trial.
Both cases involve the unilateral apprehension of a sitting head of state accused by Washington of involvement in narcotics trafficking. They raise fundamental questions of international law, particularly concerning the legality of the use of force against a sovereign state and the scope of immunity traditionally accorded to heads of state. Examined through the lenses of the United Nations Charter and the doctrine of state immunity, the seizure of Maduro stands on legally indefensible ground.
Article 2(4) of the United Nations Charter obliges all member states to refrain from the threat or use of force against the territorial integrity or political independence of any state. A military operation to capture a foreign head of state on that state's own territory constitutes a clear violation of this core principal. In this respect, the United States' action represents a breach of Venezuela's sovereignty and of the Charter itself.
Washington has attempted to justify its conduct by invoking self-defense, claiming that Maduro's alleged "Cartel of the Suns" constitutes a threat to US national security and even characterizing cocaine trafficking as a form of "weapon of mass destruction". However, under Article 51 of the UN Charter, self-defense is permitted only in response to an actual armed attack. Venezuela has launched no such attack against the US. By expanding the concept of self-defense to encompass transnational drug trafficking, the US has stretched the doctrine beyond recognition.
The invocation of "weapons of mass destruction" further underscores the weakness of this argument. While widely used in political discourse, WMD is not a term authoritatively defined by treaty or customary international law. Recasting narcotics as WMD exploits this legal ambiguity and runs counter to the principle of good faith enshrined in the Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties.
The US might argue that Maduro's alleged crimes — such as torture or crimes against humanity — trigger universal jurisdiction, allowing any state to arrest perpetrators regardless of nationality or location. International law does recognize universal jurisdiction for certain grave offenses. However, the modern legal framework for prosecuting such crimes is centered on the International Criminal Court.
Under the Rome Statute, the ICC has jurisdiction over genocide, crimes against humanity, war crimes, and the crime of aggression — but only where states are unable or unwilling to prosecute. Crucially, the Court may exercise jurisdiction over a head of state only through established legal mechanisms, including referral by the UN Security Council under Article 13(b). Unilateral military abduction is not among them.
While the Rome Statute significantly erodes traditional head-of-state immunity —most notably through Article 27 — it does so within an institutional and legal framework designed to constrain power, not license its arbitrary use. The appropriate course for the United States, had it wished to pursue accountability, would have been to seek multilateral authorization through the Security Council and the ICC.
Instead, Washington has chosen to operate outside that system. The United States does not recognize the jurisdiction of the ICC and formally withdrew from the Rome Statute framework in 2002. In recent years, it has gone further, imposing sanctions on ICC judges and prosecutors. This posture underscores a deeper contradiction: the United States insists on global accountability for others while exempting itself from the very institutions designed to deliver it.
Given the United States' veto power, meaningful consequences through the Security Council are virtually impossible. If such actions carry no international cost, the erosion of the UN-centered order will accelerate, inviting comparisons to the League of Nations in the 1930s — an institution rendered impotent by the unilateralism of its most powerful members.
Resorting to military invasion and the arrest of a sitting head of state, the United States has effectively abandoned the rules-based international order it long claimed to uphold, replacing it with a Hobbesian security culture characterized by coercion, zero-sum logic, and jungle law.
The author is a scholar at Brussels Research Institute on Development, Governance and Empowerment, through law, Vrije Universiteit Brussel, Belgium.
The views don't necessarily reflect those of China Daily.
If you have a specific expertise, or would like to share your thought about our stories, then send us your writings at opinion@chinadaily.com.cn, and comment@chinadaily.com.cn.
Venezuela's top court orders VP Delcy Rodriguez to be acting president: media
Voices of dissent have risen across the United States following the military operation that led to the capture of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro and his wife, with critics mainly from Congress and social media questioning the action's legality and underlying motives.
US forces carried out airstrikes on military sites in Caracas, including Fort Tiuna and La Carlota Air Base on Saturday. The operation included the arrest of Maduro and his wife Cilia Flores.
Democratic lawmakers have led much of the criticism, focusing on constitutional concerns and possible resource-driven motives. Senator Tim Kaine called it "an unauthorized military attack on Venezuela" that bypasses Congress, saying that he will force a Senate vote next week on a resolution to constrain the president's war powers. "President Trump's unauthorized military attack on Venezuela to arrest Maduro — however terrible he is — is a sickening return to a day when the United States asserted the right to dominate the internal political affairs of all nations in the Western Hemisphere," Kaine said.
The Senate vote on the War Powers Resolution is expected as early as Tuesday, following a mandatory briefing by administration officials.
Democratic senator Andy Kim said the administration had misled Congress. "Administration officials lied to Congress about goals in Venezuela. This operation sends a horrible and disturbing signal that targeting a head of state is acceptable US policy, violating our Constitution's war powers provisions and setting a dangerous precedent," said Kim.
Representatives Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Mark Pocan, and Senator Jeff Merkley also argued that the operation was driven by oil interests rather than national security. Ocasio-Cortez described it as a "terrifying precedent" for regime change under the mask of drug charges, while Pocan and Merkley emphasized that the move ignores the will of the American people to prioritize "might over right" for the sake of securing foreign resources.
Democratic Representative Jim McGovern described the strikes as illegal. "The Trump administration has been lying to Congress and the American people while carrying out illegal attacks. This is an unjustified, illegal strike on Venezuela — the Constitution is clear: only Congress can declare war, and we must say no to an illegal war."
Democratic Senator Ruben Gallego also called it an illegal war. "This war is illegal; it's embarrassing that we went from the world cop to the world bully in one day. There is no justification for the United States to be at war with Venezuela — I lived through the consequences of an illegal war sold to the American people on lies," he said.
Democratic Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer called the move reckless. "This is reckless and without a plan — Trump's decision to capture Maduro bypasses Congress entirely, risking American lives and international stability without any strategy beyond bravado."
In contrast, most Republican lawmakers largely applauded the operation as a decisive step against narco-terrorism and in the US interests, while some Republican lawmakers also raised objections. Representative Thomas Massie questioned the legal foundation: "If the operation were constitutionally sound, authorities would not reference a 1934 firearm law in relation to the arrest of a foreign leader and his wife. The president has no authority to launch military action without congressional authorization — this is a clear violation."
Republican Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene criticized foreign interventions. "Regime change, funding foreign wars and American's tax dollars being consistently funneled to foreign causes ... is what has most Americans furious. If US military action and regime change in Venezuela was really about saving American lives, then why aren't we doing the same with Mexican cartels?" she posted.
Republican Senator Mike Lee initially sought clarification on authorization. "I look forward to learning what, if anything, might constitutionally justify this action in the absence of a declaration of war or congressional authorization. This raises serious questions about the legal basis for military strikes on Venezuela."
Ana Navarro, a conservative political commentator, criticized suggestions that the US should manage Venezuela, as Trump had asserted. "This is insane. We have to reject any effort by Donald Trump to run Venezuela — claiming the US will 'manage' another country is a severe infringement on sovereignty and completely unhinged."
Maduro and Flores arrived later on Saturday in New York aboard a US aircraft, landing at Stewart Air National Guard Base in Newburgh before transferring to the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn for federal processing.
New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani, briefed on detention plans, called the capture "an act of war and a violation of federal and international law".
Online discussions echoed politicians' concerns. On Reddit, user Flash_ina_pan wrote: "As long as there's oil that Chevron, Exxon and their ilk don't have access to, war is always on the table. The whole 'drug trafficking' and 'human rights' narrative is just a PR layer to mask the fact that this is a resources grab."
User Agloe_Dreams commented: "Profits come at the cost of the people. Ensuring profits requires ensuring control. Going to war with someone so you can set up your own profitable dictatorship has, historically speaking, not worked out great at ALL for anyone."
On X, @ZoeAlexandros posted: "The drug trafficking charges are a convenient front for a textbook regime change. If we actually cared about drug flows, we wouldn't be cozying up to narco-states when it suits our interests. This is about establishing a foothold, period."
@GeopoliAnalyst, another user, wrote: "Trump just said the quiet part loud: 'We're going to get the oil flowing.' This was never about democracy. It's about securing the world's largest oil reserves for US firms. Absolute Resolve is just another resource war dressed up in the flag."
YouTube comments included similar views. @CommonSenseCynic wrote: "It's the 2026 version of 'weapons of mass destruction'. The DEA warrant is just a convenient legal wrapper for a military coup. If it were about drugs, they'd start with the cartels we actually share a border with, not a country with the largest oil reserves."
yifanxu@chinadailyusa.com
NEW YORK -- At least 40 people, including civilians and soldiers, were killed in a large-scale US military strike on Venezuela early Saturday morning, US media reported, citing a senior Venezuelan official.
WASHINGTON -- US Democratic lawmakers on Saturday showed their anger and distress in the aftermath of the US raid on Venezuela and capture of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro early Saturday morning.
They said that Congress had not been notified in advance and that US President Donald Trump's administration had previously lied to Congress about its goal in the oil-rich South American nation. Meanwhile, they demanded an immediate briefing on the operation and on the White House's next move.
"Secretaries Rubio and Hegseth looked every Senator in the eye a few weeks ago and said this wasn't about regime change. I didn't trust them then and we see now that they blatantly lied to Congress," US Senator Andy Kim wrote in a post on X. Last year, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth told members of Congress that regime change in Venezuela was not their goal.
Jason Crow, a Democrat on the House Armed Services and Intelligence committees, agreed: "The Trump Administration repeatedly lied to Congress and the American people about Venezuela. Over and over, officials testified that this was not about regime change."
Jeanne Shaheen, a Democrat on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, said the Trump administration has "consistently misled" lawmakers, leaving Congress in the dark on any US "long-term strategy" concerning Venezuela.
Senator Chris Coons, the top Democrat on the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Defense, also said that lawmakers were given "false" information by the administration. "A military operation to capture and overthrow a president -- even an illegitimate one -- is an act of war that must be authorized by Congress," he said.
Both House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer on Saturday criticized the Trump administration for not seeking congressional authorization before the reckless attack, demanding an immediate briefing.
"The Trump administration has not sought congressional authorization for use of military force and has failed to properly notify Congress in advance of the operation in Venezuela," Jeffries said in a statement.
"Too many questions remain unanswered," said Jeffries, calling for evidence to "explain and justify this unauthorized use of military force."
According to Schumer, the White House "has assured me three separate times that it was not pursuing regime change or taking military action in Venezuela." "Clearly, they are not being straight with Americans," Schumer said in a statement.
Following reports of explosions in Caracas, Democratic Senator Brian Schatz, a member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, wrote on X that the United States has "no vital national interests in Venezuela to justify war."
"We should have learned not to stumble into another stupid adventure by now," Schatz warned.
However, it seems Republican lawmakers largely back the Trump administration's attack on Venezuela. Senate Majority Leader John Thune and House Speaker Mike Johnson said they are expecting related briefings to Congress in the coming days.
"President Trump's decisive action ... is an important first step to bring him (Maduro) to justice for the drug crimes for which he has been indicted in the United States," Thune said in a statement.
The latest US strikes on Venezuela and its capture of Maduro have drawn worldwide condemnation and concern.
CARACAS -- Venezuelan Vice President Delcy Rodriguez said on Saturday that Nicolas Maduro is "the only president" of the South American nation.
Rodriguez made the statement during a live speech on a state-run television station Saturday afternoon, adding that Venezuela will never become a colony of any country.
Accompanied by the ministers of the interior, foreign affairs and other officials, the vice president demanded that the United States release Maduro and his wife, and urged the Venezuelan people to remain calm, face the challenges together and defend national sovereignty.
Noting that the attack on Venezuela may happen in any other country in the region in the future, Rodriguez said Venezuela is ready to defend its natural resources and will never become a colony of any country or a slave of any empire.
The United States launched a large-scale military operation against Venezuela in the early hours of Saturday, seizing Maduro and his wife.
US President Donald Trump claimed at a press conference Saturday morning that Rodriguez had been sworn in as president of Venezuela, and that Secretary of State Marco Rubio "just had a conversation" with her.
"She's essentially willing to do what we think is necessary to make Venezuela great again," Trump claimed while speaking to reporters.
The international community is deeply shocked by the US raid on Maduro, strongly condemning the blatant use of force against a sovereign state and action against its president.
Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro and his wife Cilia Flores arrived in New York on Saturday aboard a US aircraft, landing at Stewart Air National Guard Base in Newburgh, following their capture in a large-scale US military operation in Venezuela earlier in the day. US Attorney General Pam Bondi stated the couple will face federal charges, including narco-terrorism, conspiracy to import cocaine, drug trafficking and related offenses.
Earlier, Venezuelan Vice-President Delcy Rodriguez demanded "proof of life" for Maduro and his wife, stating the government did not know their whereabouts following the US action, which she described as a violation of sovereignty. Maduro and Flores are expected to be transferred to the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn and make an initial court appearance as soon as Monday.
WASHINGTON -- A plane carrying Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, who were captured in a large-scale US military strike on Venezuela early Saturday morning, has arrived at a New York military base, according to local media.
Venezuelan Vice-President Delcy Rodriguez has demanded the "immediate release" of the couple at a session of the National Defense Council broadcast by a state television channel. Enditem
The African Union has reaffirmed its steadfast commitment to the fundamental principles of international law, including respect for the sovereignty of states and their territorial integrity, it said following the military attacks by the United States on Venezuela.
Citing reports of the abduction of Venezuela's President Nicolas Maduro and military attacks targeting Venezuelan state institutions on Saturday, the AU said it was following developments with grave concerns.
"The African Union underscored the importance of dialogue, peaceful settlement of disputes, and respect for constitutional and institutional frameworks, in a spirit of good neighbourliness, cooperation, and peaceful coexistence among nations," The AU said in a press statement released on Saturday.
It also emphasized that the complex internal challenges facing Venezuela can only be sustainably addressed through inclusive political dialogue among Venezuelans themselves.
"African Union expresses its solidarity with the Venezuelan people and reiterates its commitment to the promotion of peace, stability, and mutual respect among nations and regions," it pointed out.
UNITED NATIONS -- The UN Security Council will hold an emergency meeting on Monday on the US operation against Venezuela, the council presidency told Xinhua on Saturday.
"The presidency intends to hold the emergency meeting on Monday morning at 10 am (1500 GMT)," said Khadija Ahmed, spokeswoman for the Somali Permanent Mission to the United Nations. Somalia holds the rotating presidency of the Security Council for the month of January.
The United States launched an operation on Saturday and captured Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro and his wife in Caracas.
MOSCOW -- Russian and Belarusian foreign ministers strongly condemned US aggression against Venezuela during a phone call, the Russian foreign ministry said on Saturday.
During the call, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and Belarusian Foreign Minister Maxim Ryzhenkov exchanged views on the situation surrounding Venezuela, stressing that Moscow and Minsk are united in condemning actions in violation of international legal norms.
They also stressed the unconditional necessity of the immediate release of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro and his wife, their return to the country's capital, and the restoration of Maduro to the post of head of state.
The two sides further noted the importance of swiftly creating conditions for resolving the situation around Venezuela through dialogue in accordance with international law, the ministry said.
The South African government has called on the United Nations Security Council to convene urgently over the involvement of the United States in large-scale military operation in Venezuela, resulting in the capture of the country's President Nicolas Maduro along with his wife.
In a press statement issued by the Ministry of International Relations and Cooperation on Saturday, South Africa called on the body charged with maintaining international peace and security to take note of the unlawful invasion of a sovereign state, cautioning that the unilateral force could deepen the crisis.
"Unlawful, unilateral force of this nature undermines the stability of the international order and the principle of equality among nations," the statement stated.
He pointed out that South Africa views the actions by the US as a manifest violation of the Charter of the United Nations, which mandates that all member states refrain from the threat or use of force against the territorial integrity or political independence of any state.
"Furthermore, the Charter does not authorize external military intervention in matters that are essentially within the domestic jurisdiction of a sovereign nation," the statement added.
The United States will take interim control of Venezuela after capturing President Nicolas Maduro and does not rule out deploying US troops on the ground, US President Donald Trump said on Saturday, as UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres warned the US strikes set "a dangerous precedent".
"We're going to run the country until such time as we can do a safe, proper and judicious transition," Trump said during a news conference ?at his Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida, hours after a US overnight attack on the South American country.
A US occupation "won't cost us a anything" because the United States would be reimbursed from the "money coming out of the ground", Trump said, referring to Venezuela's oil reserves.
Trump said American energy companies would rebuild Venezuela's broken infrastructure under US supervision.
The president also said that the military operation against Maduro was not necessarily over, warning that the US stood ready to escalate if required.
"We are ready to stage a second and much larger attack if we need to do so," Trump said, although he added that the initial operation was so successful that "we probably don't have to do a second."
He also said that US troops could remain on the ground in Venezuela during the interim period.
"We're not afraid of boots on the ground if we have to have [them]," he said, pointing out that American forces had already operated inside the country. "We had boots on the ground last night at a very high level," he added.
Guterres is "deeply alarmed" by US military action in Venezuela that sets "a dangerous precedent", his spokesperson said on Saturday.
"These developments constitute a dangerous precedent," Guterres' spokesperson Stephane Dujarric said in a statement. "The ?secretary-general continues to emphasize the importance of full respect — by all — of international law, including the UN Charter. He's deeply ?concerned that the rules of international law have not been respected."
Moments after Trump announced the ?US would ?run the South American country until a "safe" transition was ?completed, Spain said it will not "recognize an intervention that violates international law and pushes the region toward a horizon of uncertainty and belligerence," Prime ?Minister Pedro Sanchez wrote on X.
Venezuela and Colombia have asked the 15-member Security Council to meet, diplomats said, though the meeting had not yet been scheduled, Reuters reported.
In a letter to the Security Council on Saturday, Venezuela's UN Ambassador Samuel Moncada described the operation as a "deadly and treacherous US military attack" against "a country that is at peace," warning it "has serious implications for regional and international peace and security."
He said the US had violated the founding UN Charter, citing its provision that "All members shall refrain in their international relations from the threat or use of force against the territorial integrity or political independence of any state."
In a separate letter to the Security Council's January president, Venezuela's Permanent Mission to the United Nations condemned what it called "brutal, unjustified and unilateral" US armed attacks.
The mission said that US forces bombed "civilian and military sites" in Caracas and other locations and called the operation "a flagrant act of aggression" that violated the UN Charter.
Countries that criticized US strike mainly focused on the UN Charter's prohibition on the use of force and urged de-escalation.
China said it was "deeply shocked and strongly condemns the use of force by the US against a sovereign country and the use of force against the president of a country."
"Such?hegemonic acts of the US seriously violate international law and Venezuela's sovereignty, and threaten peace and security in Latin America and the Caribbean region. China firmly opposes it," a Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesperson said.
The spokesperson urged Washington to abide by international law, and the purposes and principles of the UN Charter, and stop violating other countries' sovereignty and security.
Russia strongly urged the US leadership to release Maduro and his wife, the Russian foreign ministry said on Saturday.
In a statement, the ministry called on Washington to reconsider its position regarding the couple.
The statement also stressed the need to create conditions for resolving any existing issues between the United States and Venezuela through dialogue.
France's Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot said, "The military operation that led to the capture of Nicolas Maduro violates the principle of not resorting to force, that underpins international law".
He added that "no lasting political solution can be imposed from the outside" and "only sovereign people themselves can decide their future".
A leading international-law expert at Chatham House said that the US rationale collided with the UN Charter's baseline prohibition on the use of force.
"International law prohibits the use of force as a means of national policy," Marc Weller, program director of Chatham House's International Law Programme, said in a post on the London-based policy institute's website on Saturday.
Short of a UN Chapter VII mandate, force is generally lawful only "in response to an armed attack" or possibly to rescue a population facing "imminent threat of extermination," he said.
"Clearly, none of these requirements are fulfilled" by the US operation against Venezuela, he said, adding that US interests in stopping drugs, or portraying the Maduro government as a criminal enterprise "offers no legal justification".
Agencies contributed to this report.
CARACAS -- Several Venezuelan political figures on Saturday strongly condemned US aggression and called on the public to remain calm and alert.
Venezuela's Vice-President Delcy Rodriguez, speaking on a state-run television station, said the whereabouts of President Nicolas Maduro and his wife were unknown, asking for proof they are alive.
She added that the US military aggression caused the deaths of many Venezuelan military personnel and civilians in the capital Caracas, as well as in the states of Miranda, Aragua and La Guaira.
No external government or external force should attempt to give orders to Venezuela, nor should they try to dominate the Venezuelan people, she stressed, adding that the US act violates the South American nation's sovereignty, undermines peace and tranquility, and claims the lives of innocent Venezuelans.
"They made a sneaky, vile attack on sleeping people. They cowardly attacked the people," Venezuelan Interior Minister Diosdado Cabello said, condemning the US attack on Caracas.
He urged the public to remain calm, calling for letting no one "fall into despair" or "fall into making things easier for the invading enemy, the terrorist enemy who attacked us cowardly."
Tarek William Saab, attorney general of Venezuela, said the US government should be held responsible for what could happen to Maduro and his wife.
"I strongly condemn the vile and cowardly attack by the imperial enemy, carried out in the early hours of the morning against civilian and innocent targets of our homeland," he said.
This fact shows that what the Venezuelan president had warned about has now turned into acts of blood, he added.
He also urged the public to remain calm and alert, without falling into the "enemy's psychological warfare."
OSLO -- The foreign ministers of Norway and Denmark on Saturday voiced concern over the latest US military operation in Venezuela, stressing that international law must be respected and calling for de-escalation and dialogue under the United Nations framework.
Norwegian Foreign Minister Espen Barth Eide underscored that Washington's move raises serious legal concerns.
"The American intervention in Venezuela is not in line with international law," he told Norwegian broadcaster NRK.
Danish Foreign Minister Lars Lokke Rasmussen told Danish broadcaster DR that the situation in Venezuela represents a serious escalation and that he expects the UN Security Council to convene quickly to discuss the developments.
Rasmussen also emphasized the need to uphold international law. "We must maintain respect for the international rules of the game," he said.
US President Donald Trump said on Saturday that the United States has struck Venezuela and captured its President Nicolas Maduro, who was flown out of the country along with his wife.
Venezuela on Saturday denounced a "military aggression" by the United States, after large explosions were heard and aircraft were seen over the capital Caracas earlier in the day.
THE HAGUE -- Several members of the Dutch House of Representatives on Saturday condemned a US attack on Venezuela, which led to the capture of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro.
Socialist Party leader Jimmy Dijk wrote on social media platform X that "Trump is bombing boats, drowning people, ports, and now another country." He warned that such military expansion is fueling international instability and endangering lives, stressing that the Netherlands must condemn the attack.
GreenLeft-Labor Party leader Jesse Klaver also denounced what he described as an "illegal attack by the Trump administration on Venezuela," saying it could have serious consequences for the region, including the Caribbean parts of the Kingdom of the Netherlands - Aruba, Bonaire, and Curacao.
Christine Teunissen of the Party for the Animals likewise labeled the action an "illegal attack," noting that it impacts people who are already "in an extremely vulnerable situation." She urged the Dutch cabinet to issue a strong condemnation.
According to Dutch Prime Minister Dick Schoof, the cabinet is closely following developments in the Caribbean and the situation in Venezuela.
Dutch Foreign Minister David Van Weel issued a statement which called on "all parties to prevent further escalation and to comply with international law."
US President Donald Trump said on Saturday that the United States has struck Venezuela and captured its President Nicolas Maduro, who was flown out of the country along with his wife.
Venezuela on Saturday denounced a "military aggression" by the United States, after large explosions were heard and aircraft were seen over the capital Caracas earlier in the day.
Trump says US will not forget about Monroe Doctrine anymore
MADRID -- The Spanish government on Saturday called for "de-escalation" following the United States attack on the Venezuelan capital, Caracas, which led to the capture of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro in the early hours of Saturday morning.
Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez said on social media that "the Spanish government is closely following the events in Venezuela and both our embassy and consulates are operating."
"We call for de-escalation and for responsibility," wrote Sanchez, stressing that "International Law needs to be respected."
The Spanish Ministry for Foreign Affairs also issued a communique which called for "de-escalation and moderation, and for all actions to be respected in accordance with International Law and the principles of the UN Charter."
According to official figures, around 136,000 Spanish citizens were registered as living in Venezuela in 2023.
The Spanish Foreign Ministry said it was "closely monitoring the situation of the Spanish community in the country," and confirmed that staff at the Embassy and Consulate of Spain in Caracas, as well as their families, are safe.
PARIS -- French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot on Saturday voiced strong opposition to the US military operation that led to the capture of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro.
In a statement posted on his official X account, Barrot warned that such actions erode the foundations of international law and will have "serious consequences for global security, which will spare no one."
He stressed that "no lasting political solution can be imposed from outside and that sovereign peoples alone decide their own future."
France "reiterates her commitment to the Charter of the United Nations, which must continue to guide the international action of States, always and everywhere," Barrot said.
US President Donald Trump said on Saturday that the United States has struck Venezuela and captured its President Nicolas Maduro, who was flown out of the country along with his wife.
Venezuela on Saturday denounced a "military aggression" by the United States, after large explosions were heard and aircraft were seen over the capital Caracas earlier in the day.
Trump says US oil companies would fix Venezuela's infrastructure, "and start making money for the country".
