Brazilian scholar condemns US intervention in Venezuela as illegal, openly resource-interested

The United States' military aggression against Venezuela and forceful seizure of President Nicolas Maduro cannot be justified and are clearly unlawful, a Brazilian professor told the China Global Television Network (CGTN) on Tuesday in an interview.

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

The move has shocked the international community and raised serious concerns worldwide, with U.S. President Donald Trump saying that his administration would now "run" Venezuela and did not rule out launching a second round of military operations on an even larger scale.

While the U.S. government has framed the actions as part of anti-drug operations, Savio Cavalcante, a professor of sociology at the University of Campinas in Brazil, said they wholly lack legal basis.

"The military aggression against Venezuela and the kidnapping of President Nicolas Maduro is clearly illegal, an explicit crime by any measure of the international law or the principles of the United Nations, even in terms of the American law," he said.

Over the past months, the United States has maintained a significant military presence in the Caribbean, much of it off Venezuela's coast, purportedly to combat drug trafficking -- a claim Venezuela has denounced as a thinly veiled attempt to bring about regime change in Caracas.

"It's important to note that this operation was the major event in a series of already deeply illegal actions, such as acts of piracy against ships carrying oil and several attacks on boats that resulted in 115 deaths, all of these without any proof," Cavalcante said.

The Brazilian professor branded the U.S. strike as an act of imperial aggression aimed at looting the Latin American country's strategic natural resources.

"Now everything is even more frightening when we see Trump himself declare that the operation was also motivated by existing restrictions on American oil companies in Venezuela. Trump didn't even bother to hide the imperialist interests in Venezuela's natural resources," he said.

Brazilian scholar condemns US intervention in Venezuela as illegal, openly resource-interested

Brazilian scholar condemns US intervention in Venezuela as illegal, openly resource-interested

U.S. President Donald Trump on Thursday threatened again to strike Iran "very hard" if its authorities "start killing people" protesting in the Middle Eastern country.

"I have let them know that if they start killing people ... we are going to hit them very hard," Trump said in an interview with a conservative radio.

The U.S. president and other senior U.S. officials recently warned on several occasions that the U.S. would act if Iran "kills peaceful protesters."

On Wednesday, Iran's Foreign Ministry condemned what it described as "interventionist and deceptive" remarks by the Trump administration on recent unrest in the country, saying they reflected the U.S. continued hostility toward the Iranian people.

The U.S. comments on Iran's internal affairs were part of a long-standing policy of pressure and interference, rather than genuine concern for the welfare of Iranians, said the ministry in a statement.

Protests have erupted in several Iranian cities since late last month over the sharp fall in the rial and long-standing economic hardships. Iranian authorities have acknowledged the demonstrations and said they are willing to address economic grievances, while warning against violence, vandalism and unrest.

Dozens of people, including protesters and members of the security forces, have been killed since the protests began, according to various reports. There is no official figure for the death toll.

US president threatens to hit Iran 'very hard'