Islam Times – South African President Cyril Ramaphosa has strongly denounced what he described as blatant US “imperialist aggression” against Venezuela, calling for the immediate release of President Nicolás Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores.Speaking Tuesday in Johannesburg at a memorial event for a late anti-apartheid activist, with the Venezuelan flag displayed behind him, Ramaphosa said South Africa “utterly rejects” Washington’s actions and stands firmly with the Venezuelan people. He accused the administration of US President Donald Trump of committing a serious violation of international law and urged the United Nations Security Council to take decisive action.
Ramaphosa warned that the US military operation constituted a direct assault on Venezuela’s sovereignty and territorial integrity as a UN member state. Earlier the same day, South Africa’s ruling African National Congress echoed that stance, urging “progressive forces” worldwide to mobilize against what it called American imperialist aggression aimed at Venezuela’s independence and natural wealth.
In the early hours of Saturday, US forces launched coordinated attacks on Venezuela’s largest military complex in Caracas, as well as key strategic locations elsewhere in the country. During the operation, US troops abducted President Maduro and First Lady Cilia Flores and transferred them to the United States, where they now face charges including alleged “narco-terrorism conspiracy,” cocaine trafficking, and weapons offenses.
The move triggered widespread condemnation during an emergency UN Security Council session on Monday, with numerous countries, including US allies, branding the action a “crime of aggression.” Maduro, who has consistently rejected the accusations against him, appeared before a New York court on Monday, declaring himself a prisoner of war and entering a plea of not guilty.
Observers have placed the attack within the long history of US interventions across Latin America and the Caribbean. However, many note that this marks the first direct US military assault on a Latin American country in modern times, a step widely described as naked imperialism.
Following Maduro’s abduction, Trump openly asserted that “American dominance in the Western Hemisphere will never be questioned again,” while acknowledging that control over Venezuela’s oil sector was a central objective of the operation. He also issued threats against Venezuelan Vice President Delcy Rodríguez, warning she would “pay a very big price” if she failed to comply with US demands.
Rodríguez, who has been sworn in as Venezuela’s interim leader, rejected the threats, declaring that the country is ready to defend its natural resources and insisting that Nicolás Maduro remains the legitimate president of Venezuela.