The United Nations has criticised the United States over its weekend military operation in Venezuela, warning that the air strikes and seizure of President Nicolas Maduro violate international law and could further destabilise the country.
Speaking in Geneva on Tuesday, Ravina Shamdasani, spokesperson for the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, said the action undermined the core principle that forbids the use of force against the sovereignty and political independence of states.
“States must not threaten or use force against the territorial integrity or political independence of any state,” Shamdasani said, urging the international community to speak “with one voice” in condemning the operation.
US special forces, backed by warplanes, naval assets and air strikes, seized Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, in the early hours of Saturday. He was flown to the United States and appeared in a New York court on Monday, where he denied drug trafficking and other charges, insisting he had been kidnapped and remains Venezuela’s president.
Maduro, who has been in power since 2013 after succeeding Hugo Chavez, has been accused by the US and the European Union of rigging elections, most recently in 2024, jailing opponents and presiding over widespread corruption.
Shamdasani acknowledged the UN’s long-standing concerns over human rights conditions in Venezuela but rejected Washington’s justification for the operation.
“Accountability for human rights violations cannot be achieved through unilateral military intervention in violation of international law,” she said, warning that invoking human rights to justify such action was unacceptable and likely to worsen the crisis.
She added that Venezuelan authorities had declared a state of emergency after the operation, allowing property seizures, restrictions on movement and the suspension of protest rights.
“Far from being a victory for human rights, this military intervention damages the architecture of international security and makes every country less safe,” she said.
The UN human rights office has been monitoring developments from Panama since its staff were expelled from Venezuela in early 2024. The UN humanitarian agency, OCHA, said nearly eight million Venezuelans were already in need of assistance before the US action.
Meanwhile, the UN refugee agency, UNHCR, said it had not recorded mass displacement since Saturday but was closely monitoring the situation and stood ready to support emergency relief and protect displaced people if needed.
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