- The US veto prevents accountability in the UN Security Council.
- The United States cites self-defense under Article 51 of the UN Charter.
- Legal experts argue that the US operation violated international law.
UNITED NATIONS: The legality of the US capture of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro will be in focus at the UN on Monday, but Washington is unlikely to face strong criticism from allies over its military operation in the Latin American state.
The 15-member UN Security Council will meet on Monday after US special forces captured Maduro in an operation on Saturday that knocked out power in parts of Caracas and hit military installations. Venezuelan authorities also said it was fatal. Maduro is now in custody in New York awaiting a court appearance on Monday on drug charges.
Russia, China and other Venezuelan allies have accused the US of violating international law, but US allies – many of whom opposed Maduro – have been less vocal about concerns about the use of military force.
“Judging by the reactions of European leaders to date, I suspect that US allies will be remarkably ambivalent in the Security Council,” said Richard Gowan, director of global issues and institutions at the International Crisis Group, a think tank.
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres views the US operation as “a dangerous precedent,” his spokesman said on Saturday. Many legal experts also say the US action was illegal, although Washington will be able to block any attempt by the UN Security Council to hold it accountable.
Washington cites self-defense
In the wake of the US operation, European states have largely called for international law to be respected without specifically calling out Washington, although French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot said the US had violated “the principle of non-recourse to force which underpins international law.”
The UN Charter states that members “shall refrain in their international relations from threats or the use of force against the territorial integrity or political independence of any State.” There are currently 193 members of the United Nations.
US Ambassador to the UN Mike Waltz on Sunday cited Article 51 of the UN Charter, which states that nothing “shall impair the inherent right of individual or collective self-defense in the event of an armed attack against a member of the United Nations.”
“In this case, you have a drug kingpin, an illegitimate leader indicted in the United States, coordinating with people like China, Russia, Iran, terrorist groups like Hezbollah, pumping drugs, thugs and weapons into the United States and threatening to invade its neighbors,” he said. Fox News.
But legal experts say the US operation was illegal because it lacked authorization from the UN Security Council, did not have Venezuelan consent and did not constitute self-defense against an armed attack.
“The action violated international law,” said Tom Dannenbaum, a professor at Stanford Law School. “Serious legal objections to Maduro’s regime do not eliminate the need for a legal basis for using military force in Venezuela.”
The US veto protects Washington
But Washington cannot be held responsible for any violation by the UN Security Council, which is tasked with maintaining international peace and security. The US has a veto – along with Russia, China, Britain and France – so can block action.
Maduro was indicted in 2020 on US charges including narco-terrorism conspiracy. He has always denied any criminal involvement.
“Even if Maduro were to be responsible for the smuggling of some drugs into the United States, such drug smuggling does not constitute an armed attack and does not authorize the United States to use force in self-defense,” said Milena Sterio, a professor at Cleveland State University College of Law.
She also said Washington “cannot exercise extra-territorial jurisdiction to arrest individuals anywhere it pleases.”
Adil Haque, a professor at Rutgers Law School, also said the U.S. capture of Maduro “was an illegal violation of the inviolability and immunity of a sitting head of state who may lack democratic legitimacy but was clearly effectively performing his official functions on behalf of his state.”
Cuba says 32 of its citizens were killed in the Maduro extraction
The Cuban government said on Sunday that 32 of its citizens were killed during the US raid on Venezuela to extract Maduro for prosecution in the US.
Havana said there would be two days of mourning on January 5 and 6 in honor of those killed, and said funeral arrangements would be announced.
The Cuban government statement gave few details but said all the dead were members of the Cuban armed forces and intelligence services.
“True to their security and defense responsibilities, our countrymen performed their duty with dignity and heroism and fell, after fierce resistance, in direct combat against the attackers or as a result of bombing of the facilities,” the statement said.
Cuba has provided some security for Maduro since he came to power. It was not clear how many Cubans were guarding the Venezuelan president when they died, and how many may have died elsewhere.
Maduro, 63, and his wife Cilia Flores were seized by US forces in Venezuela’s capital Caracas on Saturday and flown to the US. Maduro is being held in a New York detention center awaiting a court appearance Monday on drug charges.
