The United Nations has expressed deep concern over the United States’ military operation in Venezuela, warning that the action undermined a fundamental principle of international law.
Speaking to reporters in Geneva on Tuesday, the spokeswoman for the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, Ravina Shamdasani, said states must not threaten or use force against the territorial integrity or political independence of another country.
Her comments followed reports that Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, were forcibly taken by US commandos in the early hours of Saturday during an operation that involved airstrikes on Caracas, supported by warplanes and a heavy naval deployment.
Shamdasani rejected Washington’s justification for the operation, which cited Venezuela’s “longstanding and appalling human rights violations,” stressing that accountability for such abuses cannot be achieved through unilateral military action that violates international law.
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She noted that the UN human rights office has, for more than a decade, documented the continued deterioration of the human rights situation in Venezuela.
According to her, the UN fears that the instability and increased militarisation arising from the US intervention could further worsen conditions in the country.