The United Nations Security Council (UNSC) will convene on Monday to discuss US military operations in Venezuela that culminated in the capture of President Nicolas Maduro, a move UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres called “a dangerous precedent.”
Colombia, backed by Russia and China, requested the emergency meeting of the 15-member council, diplomats said.
“The presidency intends to hold the emergency meeting on Monday morning at 15:00 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.
Guterres’ spokesperson Stephane Dujarric said: “The secretary-general continues to emphasise 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.”
“Independently of the situation in Venezuela, these developments constitute a dangerous precedent,” she quoted Guterres as saying.
The meeting will be held under the title: “Threats to International Peace and Security.
The UN Security Council has met twice — in October and December — over the escalating tensions between the United States and Venezuela.
The development came after US President Donald Trump ordered an audacious US raid to capture the South American leader and take control of the country and its vast oil reserves.
As part of the dramatic operation early on Saturday that knocked out electricity in parts of Caracas and included strikes on military installations, US Special Forces seized Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, and transported them via helicopter to a US Navy ship offshore before flying them to the US.
“We will run the country until such time as we can do a safe, proper and judicious transition,” Trump told a press conference at his Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida.
For months, his administration criticised Maduro, 63, over what it called his involvement in shipping drugs to the US. It ramped up pressure with a massive military build-up in the Caribbean and a series of deadly missile attacks on alleged drug-running boats.
Maduro has denied any involvement in drug trafficking and says Trump wants Venezuela’s oil.
Venezuela’s UN Ambassador Samuel Moncada also wrote to the UNSC Saturday, calling the action “a colonial war aimed at destroying our republican form of government.”
He accused the US of violating the UN Charter, which prohibits members from using “the threat or use of force against the territorial integrity or political independence of any state.” –Agencies
