Politicians in Latin America, Europe, Israel and elsewhere commented on Saturday on the capture of Venezuelan dictator Nicolas Maduro by the U.S. after a series of strikes near Caracas.
Argentina’s right wing President Javier Milei hailed the news, saying it proved “freedom advances.”
Meanwhile Russia, a close ally of the Maduro regime, said it was concerned by the reports.
“We call for immediate clarification of this situation. Such actions, if they did indeed take place, constitute an unacceptable violation of the sovereignty of an independent state, respect for which is a key principle of international law,” the Russian foreign ministry said in a statement.
Iran, another ally of Venezuela, called on the UN Security Council to “act immediately to halt the unlawful aggression,” as the foreign ministry hit out at “a blatant violation of its national sovereignty and territorial integrity” in a statement posted on X.
“The United States of America has successfully 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,” Trump said in a Truth Social post.
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Ahead of the overnight strike, the U.S. had accused Maduro of running a “narco-state” and rigging last year’s election, which the opposition said it won overwhelmingly.
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The Venezuelan leader, who succeeded Hugo Chavez to take power in 2013, has said Washington wants control of the South American nation’s oil reserves, the largest in the world.
While there was no immediate response from Israeli government officials, opposition leader Yair Lapid posted on X that “the regime in Iran should pay close attention to what is happening in Venezuela.”