Group of Friends in Defense of UN Charter condemn US aggression against Venezuela

The Group of Friends in Defense of the Charter of the United Nations (U.N.) on Sunday condemned "in the most unequivocal and categoric manner" the United States' military aggression against Venezuela on Saturday.

The acts of aggression by the U.S. special forces against Venezuela "included armed attacks against civilian and military objects in the capital city of Caracas, as well as in various other cities of the Venezuelan territory, and the illegal abduction of the President and First Lady of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, H.E. Mr. Nicolas Maduro Moros and H.E. Mrs. Cilia Flores de Maduro," said the U.N. group in a statement shared by Venezuelan Foreign Minister Yvan Gil in a post on social media platform X.

"Such acts constitute a clear breach of international law and of each and every principle governing international relations, including those foreseen in the Charter of the United Nations," the statement emphasized.

In the statement, the U.N. group reiterated its firm support to the constitutional government of Venezuela under the leadership of President Maduro and emphasized the importance of ensuring strict respect for the inviolability of the immunities accorded to heads of state and government under international law.

It also renewed its unwavering solidarity with the Venezuelan people in their ongoing struggle for defending their homeland.

The group demanded the immediate cessation of all hostilities against Venezuela, full respect for the country's sovereignty and territorial integrity, as well as the immediate return of President Maduro and his wife to Venezuela.

It also demanded that those responsible for these acts of aggression be held accountable.

Furthermore, the group rejected the remarked by U.S. President Donald Trump delivered on Saturday afternoon, saying he "not only threatened with additional strikes against the Venezuelan territory, but also claimed his resolve to occupy and govern Venezuela and exploit its natural resources."

It described the remarks as "the confession of a clear plan of annexation that foresees, among others, the complete obliteration of the inalienable rights of the people, as well as the fundamental rights of the Venezuelan state as a whole."

It called on all relevant international bodies, including the U.N. Security Council and the U.N. General Assembly, to swiftly mobilize in order to uphold the purposes and principles enriched in the U.N. Charter and to urgently take appropriate measures to avoid further escalation of the situation, particularly additional acts of aggression against the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Venezuela, and preserve both regional and international peace and security.

The Group of Friends in Defense of the Charter of the United Nations was launched in July 2021 in New York, marking a significant step forward in the shared endeavor of the peoples of the world towards a multipolar future. It is of an open-ended nature and is currently composed of 18 member states.

Group of Friends in Defense of UN Charter condemn US aggression against Venezuela

A U.S. law expert has told China Global Television Network (CGTN) that the U.S. military operation in Venezuela is legally ungrounded, describing it as a violation of international law and the UN Charter, which is likely to set a dangerous precedent that challenges the global legal order.

In the early hours of Saturday, U.S. military forces carried out attacks and bombings in Caracas and other parts of Venezuela and took President Nicolas Maduro and his wife Cilia Flores, before putting them in custody in New York.

Julian Davis Mortenson, a professor at the University of Michigan Law School said that the U.S. actions in Venezuela have no justification under international law and violate the UN Charter's fundamental prohibition on the use of force.

"It is the general agreement of experts in the U.S., as abroad, that there is no international law justification for what the Trump administration has done in Venezuela, because the UN Charter is really quite straightforward. The use of force is prohibited under the UN Charter. Now you might think 'how can that be?' Sometimes nations must use force to defend themselves, and of course, that's exactly correct, but there's a procedural requirement," said Mortenson.

"That's the basic structure of how the UN Charter framework works -- a prohibition on using force combined with an exception from the prohibition, but only if you suffer an armed attack and are responding to it. I don't see any serious argument that there has been any kind of action by Venezuela, or even by non-state parties affiliated with Venezuela, that would come close to constituting an armed attack," he said.

Mortenson stressed the critical importance of global condemnation to prevent such actions from becoming a precedent, although he acknowledged that countries might struggle to strike a balance in how they responded.

"In my view, the way the international community right now is responding to what Trump has done is walking an uneasy balance between trying to assert the meaning and force of international law, on one hand, and on the other hand, just as a realistic practical matter, not picking a fight with the U.S. beyond what is needed," he said.

"It's important that other countries state that they think the U.S. is violating the law. And that's important because if they don't, actions like the U.S. is taking can become part of international law and can become a precedent for other countries or the U.S. again to do the same thing again," said the professor.

U.S. actions in Venezuela have no justification under international law, UN Charter: scholar