UN chief urges 'respect' for sovereignty at Venezuela emergency meeting

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Monday called for respect of nations' political independence following a US military operation in Venezuela that Washington defended as a police action against Caracas's "fugitive" leader. US forces seized Nicolas Maduro and his wife over the weekend, bringing to an end 12 years of increasingly authoritarian rule by the left-wing leader, whom Washington accused of running a cartel and targeted with a $50 million bounty.

Guterres urges "respect for the principles of sovereignty, political independence and territorial integrity of states," according to remarks read on his behalf by Under-Secretary-General Rosemary DiCarlo during an emergency UN Security Council meeting on the crisis. "I am deeply concerned about the possible intensification instability in the country, the potential impact on the region, and the precedent it may set for how relations between and among states are conducted," the UN chief's remarks said.

Colombia a new member of the Security Council that formally requested the meeting, and whose leader Gustavo Petro has clashed with Donald Trump also expressed concerns about US intentions. The UN Charter permits "the use of force only under exceptional circumstances in legitimate defense, in the face of an armed attack or when there is an express authorization by this Council," said Colombian ambassador Leonor Zalabata Torres. Even then, "this does not amount to assuming political control of another state," she added.

'Era of lawlessness'

US Ambassador Mike Waltz defended what he described as a "surgical law enforcement operation facilitated by the US military against two indicted fugitives of American justice, narco-terrorist Nicolas Maduro and Cilia Flores," his wife.

"As Secretary Rubio has said, there is no war against Venezuela or its people. We are not occupying a country," Waltz said.

He added nonetheless that "you cannot continue to have the largest energy reserves in the world under the control of adversaries of the United States."

US ally Britain called during the meeting for a "safe and peaceful transition to a legitimate government," with its acting UN representative, James Kariuki, saying Venezuelans "deserve a government which reflects their vote at the ballot box."

Some Security Council members criticized Washington's actions, including Venezuelan allies Russia and China, which demanded Maduro's release. Russian ambassador Vassily Nebenzia slammed the US operation that seized Maduro as a “harbinger of a turn back to the era of lawlessness and US domination by force.” "We hope that you will abandon double standards and that you will not attempt to justify such an egregious act of aggression," Nebenzia said.

Venezuela's representative Samuel Moncada asked for the Security Council's support in demanding the United States "fully respect the immunities of President Nicolas Maduro and First Lady Cilia Flores." Maduro and his wife both appeared at a New York court on Monday, entering pleas of not guilty.

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