US operation in Venezuela undermined international law, UN rights office argues |
GENEVA, Switzerland — US airstrikes on Venezuela and the seizing of the country’s leader on the weekend clearly “undermined a fundamental principle of international law,” the United Nations argued Tuesday.
“States must not threaten or use force against the territorial integrity or political independence of any state,” Ravina Shamdasani, spokeswoman for the UN rights office, told reporters in Geneva.
“And this is what we are seeing,” she said, calling on the international community to “come together with one voice… to make clear that this is an action that is in contravention of the international law that was set up by member states.”
US commandos backed by warplanes, the navy and airstrikes forcibly seized Venezuelan president Nicolas Maduro and his wife Cilia Flores in the early hours of Saturday.
Maduro appeared in court in New York on Monday to deny drug trafficking and other charges brought by Washington, insisting he had been kidnapped and remains Venezuela’s president.
He became president in 2013 after taking over from his populist mentor Hugo Chavez.
The United States and European Union say Maduro stayed in power by rigging elections — most........