Worrying implications follow U.S. military strike on Venezuela

The U.S. attack on Venezuela has been strongly condemned and raised serious concerns worldwide.

BEIJING, Jan. 5 (Xinhua) -- Governments and academics around the world have urged compliance with international law while warning of global security uncertainties in response to the recent U.S. military strike on Venezuela and the capture of its president.

On Saturday, the United States, as said by U.S. President Donald Trump on his Truth Social, "carried out a large scale strike against Venezuela and its leader, President Nicolas Maduro, who has been, along with his wife, captured and flown out of the Country." Meanwhile, he framed the operation as one "done in conjunction with U.S. Law Enforcement."

Later in the day, Trump told a press conference that the United States will "run" Venezuela until a safe time for the transition of power.

The U.S. move has since been strongly condemned and raised serious concerns worldwide.

COMPLIANCE WITH INTERNATIONAL LAW URGED

"Such actions constitute a clear violation of international law and amount to an unlawful use of force against a sovereign state," Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim said on Sunday of the U.S. operation.

"Gravely concerned by the U.S. intervention" in Venezuela, Singapore's foreign ministry stressed Sunday in a statement that it "has consistently opposed actions contrary to international law by any parties, including foreign military intervention in any country."

In a statement, the Philippines on Sunday called for restraint to prevent further escalation of tensions in Venezuela and urged a peaceful resolution.

In a written comment Saturday to national television SVT, Swedish Foreign Minister Maria Malmer Stenergard said countries are obligated to "respect international law and act accordingly."

All states have a responsibility to respect and comply with international law, Finnish President Alexander Stubb said in a post on social media X, stressing that the principle is in Finland's vital national interests.

In a statement on Sunday, the Ghanaian government called the U.S. military operation "assaults on international law, attempts at the occupation of foreign territories and apparent external control of oil resources," noting they "have extremely adverse implications on international stability and the global order."

"IMPERIALIST" APPROACH CONDEMNED

The U.S. attack on Venezuela is "undoubtedly contrary to international law," Kai Ambos, a professor of law at Germany's University of Goettingen, told an interview with German broadcaster WDR on Saturday, asserting that the United States intended to gain access to Venezuela's oil resources and remove a government it hated.

A commentary by Finland's national broadcaster Yle criticized the U.S. military operation as "imperialist" and described Trump's remarks about the U.S. running Venezuela for a time as extraordinary external interference in another country's governance.

The commentary added that Trump's "Monroe Doctrine" rhetoric revives a Monroe Doctrine-style "backyard" mindset, suggesting that the Western Hemisphere should remain under U.S. dominance.

"Any state that violates international law and kidnaps a president, as Trump has done, is committing barbaric state terrorism," said a statement by Germany's Die Linke party Saturday on its website.

"It should be condemned as an unacceptable act of aggression, a demonstration of the policy of force and an extremely dangerous precedent," former Yugoslav Foreign Minister Zivadin Jovanovic commented.

In Sunday's statement, the Ghananian government also voiced deep concern over Trump's statements that the United States will "run" Venezuela for a time, and that U.S. large oil companies will be asked to "go in."

"These declarations are reminiscent of the colonial and imperialist era. They set a dangerous precedent for the global order. Such colonial ambitions should have no place in the post-Second World War era," it said.

WORRYING IMPLICATIONS

Experts have expressed concern that the U.S. operation against Venezuela undermines the international order, poses a threat to global security, and adds new uncertainty to international affairs.

Vessela Tcherneva, deputy director of the European Council on Foreign Relations, told a television interview with Bulgaria's Nova News that the developments regarding Venezuela could change the global balance, adding, "No one can just attack their neighbor and interfere in their internal affairs."

"What we are witnessing is likely a highly dangerous shift in the international order," Adis Ahmetovic, a foreign policy expert of Germany's Social Democratic Party (SPD), told the German newspaper Tagesspiegel on Saturday.

"When military force is used without a UN mandate, regime change is openly pursued and international law is degraded to a bargaining chip, then the law of the strongest increasingly replaces the strength of the law," he noted.

In the opinion of Alessia de Luca, a U.S. politics expert and senior advisor at the Italian Institute for International Political Studies (ISPI), the U.S. operation has opened an unprecedented rift in the international order.

The majority of the candidates for the presidential election scheduled for Jan. 18 in Portugal have condemned the U.S. military strike on Venezuela. Among them, lawmaker Jorge Pinto noted, "Today it is Venezuela -- who will it be tomorrow?"

OPENING THE PANDORA'S BOX

"It is the opening of the Pandora's box," threatening global disorder and chaos, former Yugoslav foreign minister Jovanovic said commenting on the U.S. military strike on Venezuela.

Heightening global security concerns, Trump on Sunday night said that another military strike "sounds good" to him in comments directed at Colombian President Gustavo Petro, claiming "He (Petro) has cocaine mills and cocaine factories. He's not going to be doing it."

In a social media post on Sunday, Petro asked Trump to stop libeling him and rejected what he saw as the U.S. attempt to assert dominance over Latin America.

In an interview with Politico last month, Trump said he would consider military operations against targets in other countries, including Mexico and Colombia.■