Read more: After the Bell: Donald Trump kidnaps the start of the working week<\/a><\/p>\n Following the raid, US President Donald Trump said America would \u201crun\u201d Venezuela until a transition of power could take place, but did not indicate when this would be or how it would be done.<\/p>\n South Africa\u2019s Department of International Relations and Cooperation on Saturday called the attack and Maduro\u2019s capture \u201ca manifest violation<\/a>\u201d of the United Nations (UN) Charter, and urged the UN Security Council to convene on the matter.<\/p>\n The council debated the implications of the US attack on Monday. South Africa\u2019s Acting Deputy Ambassador to the UN, Jonathan Passmoor, told the Security Council that the US action in Venezuela \u201cwantonly violates the sovereignty, territorial integrity and independence\u201d of the Latin American country, reported Daily Maverick\u2019s Peter Fabricius<\/a>.<\/p>\n Also on Monday, Maduro and Flores appeared in a New York court on several charges<\/a> related to drug trafficking.<\/p>\n ANC<\/p>\n The ANC, following a meeting of its National Executive Committee (NEC) on Tuesday said it condemned the \u201cacts of aggression\u201d by the US against Venezuela, which \u201cconstitute a serious violation of international law, national sovereignty and the principles governing peaceful relations between states\u201d.<\/p>\n ANC Secretary-General Fikile Mbalula told the media that Maduro\u2019s \u201ckidnapping\u201d undermined the UN Charter and threatened global peace and stability.<\/p>\n He said the party called on \u201cpeace-loving people in our country, across the continent, and around the world, including within the United States, to call for the immediate and unconditional release\u201d of Maduro.<\/p>\n [STATEMENT] ANC CONDEMNS U.S. IMPERIALIST AGGRESSION AGAINST THE BOLIVARIAN REPUBLIC OF VENEZUELA<\/p>\n The African National Congress condemns the recent acts of aggression directed at the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, which constitute a serious violation of international law,\u2026 pic.twitter.com\/2S0sftMYRO<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 ANC SECRETARY GENERAL | Fikile Mbalula (@MbalulaFikile) January 6, 2026<\/a> <\/p>\n \u201cOur understanding of what has happened in Venezuela as the ANC can be summed up as nothing else but imperialist aggression, and the United States, and the Trump administration in particular, imposing itself as the world policeman,\u201d said Mbalula.<\/p>\n \u201cTo this extent, we have resolved to work with all the progressive forces in our country and mobilise against the American imperialist aggression, including against our own country. Folding arms, looking on, and doing nothing will mean that we have abandoned the cause of fighting for justice.\u201d<\/p>\n Read more: Trump says US will run Venezuela, South Africa calls on UN Security Council to urgently convene<\/a><\/p>\n Mbalula acknowledged the \u201creactionary forces\u201d within the Government of National Unity (GNU) and outside the national coalition \u2013 saying the ANC \u201cis not party to them\u201d.<\/p>\n \u201cGNU is not a melting pot. [FF Plus leader] Corn\u00e9 Mulder and what he expresses is not a view that is shared by the progressive forces in South Africa. Even those who are within and outside the GNU have condemned what has happened in Venezuela, and we\u2019ve got a shared perspective and that is why we talk about building a popular front against imperialist aggression,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n DA<\/p>\n The DA declined to speak on the US military action, with its national spokesperson Jan de Villiers saying the party wouldn\u2019t comment on Venezuela, \u201cexcept to say South Africa needs less crime, less corruption, more jobs and better services. We are [focused on] fixing those issues at home.\u201d<\/p>\n This is despite the party having issued numerous statements on Russia\u2019s war in Ukraine<\/a>, as well as commenting on the conflicts in the Middle East<\/a> and Sudan<\/a>.<\/p>\n However, in a statement<\/a> on Tuesday, 6 January, the DA\u2019s spokesperson on International Relations and Cooperation, Ryan Smith, condemned the Department of International Relations and Cooperation for its \u201cdiplomatic hypocrisy\u201d in its appeal to the UN Security Council to convene on the issue of Maduro\u2019s capture by the US, as it had \u201cfailed to take a similar stance\u201d on Russia\u2019s invasion of Ukraine in 2022.<\/p>\n \u201cThis exposes the politically selective and hypocritical means in which the African National Congress (ANC) conducts South Africa\u2019s diplomatic relations on the international stage. Diplomacy cannot be built on contradictions and inconsistencies.<\/p>\n \u201cIn the context of the situation in Venezuela, the ANC has again decided to pursue its entrenched party-political interests in our foreign policy by referring the USA to the UN Security Council when no such appeal for intervention was ever made when Russian President Vladimir Putin invaded Ukraine and was found guilty of human rights abuses for child trafficking,\u201d said Smith.<\/p>\n EFF<\/p>\n The EFF was particularly scathing. The red berets \u201cunequivocally\u201d condemned the US action and said it amounted to \u201cthe most blatant act of imperial aggression in the Western Hemisphere in decades\u201d.<\/p>\n \u201cLet it be clear to the world that this is not a lawful operation under international law, nor is it an act of self-defence. It is a naked exercise of unilateral military power that tramples on the sovereignty of a nation and sets a dangerous and destabilising precedent. If allowed to stand, it signals that any powerful state may invade, bomb, abduct and remove the leadership of sovereign countries without consent, oversight or legitimacy,\u201d the EFF said in a statement<\/a>.<\/p>\n The EFF said Trump\u2019s \u201cboastful and reckless rhetoric, including his public celebration of the attack and crude references to Venezuela\u2019s natural resources\u201d exposed the \u201carrogance and impunity\u201d with which the US acts when it believes itself to be above international law.<\/p>\n It added that Maduro, who has been in power since 2013, has remained steadfast in defending Venezuela\u2019s \u201cindependence, protecting its natural resources, and resisting external attempts\u201d to determine the country\u2019s political future.<\/p>\n Read more: Pouring oil on troubled waters \u2014 US capture of Maduro risks exacerbating turmoil in Venezuela<\/a><\/p>\n \u201cThe EFF reiterates that history has consistently shown that foreign military intervention does not bring democracy or peace. It brings chaos, suffering and prolonged instability, paid for by the working class and the poor. The forcible capture of a sitting head of state by a foreign military power is an unprecedented escalation that threatens the very foundations of international order and collective security,\u201d said the red berets.<\/p>\n The party called on the UN and other countries to condemn \u201cthis illegal act\u201d and demand Maduro\u2019s return.<\/p>\n ActionSA<\/p>\n ActionSA said the actions of the US \u201cundermined\u201d the rule of law.<\/p>\n \u201cActionSA believes that the global order relies on the rule of law. The actions of the US undermine this foundational principle and erode the mutual obligations that every nation must observe and respect, as outlined in the UN Charter,\u201d the party\u2019s national spokesperson, Matthew George, told Daily Maverick.<\/p>\n Read more: Venezuela\u2019s interim president offers US cooperation after Trump says further strike possible<\/a><\/p>\n \u201cActs of aggression pursued under dubious pretexts for the purposes of resource extraction and territorial expansion, irrespective of the perpetrator, set a dangerous precedent in which the rule of law is treated as selective and optional rather than obligatory, which will only serve to fundamentally weaken global stability.\u201d<\/p>\n uMkhonto Wesizwe<\/p>\n The MK party issued a statement<\/a> condemning the US military action and Maduro\u2019s \u201cabduction and forced removal\u201d from Venezuela, saying these actions \u201cconstitute nothing less than a full-scale act of war, an illegal invasion of a sovereign state, and a flagrant violation\u201d of the UN Charter.<\/p>\n \u201cThey represent an extreme escalation of long-standing US hostility toward Venezuela and expose, with brutal clarity, the true nature of Washington\u2019s foreign policy: militarised coercion in the service of resource control and imperial domination,\u201d it said.<\/p>\n The party said that the US action in the Latin American nation was a \u201cwarning\u201d to all sovereign states, particularly in Africa and Latin America.<\/p>\n \u201cThe methods used against Caracas, disinformation campaigns, economic destabilisation, sanctions, diplomatic isolation and ultimately military force are already being rehearsed against African states that resist external control. South Africa itself has been subjected to sustained disinformation, fabricated narratives and foreign-backed destabilisation efforts aimed at undermining its sovereignty and internal cohesion,\u201d it added.<\/p>\n Freedom Front Plus<\/p>\n In a post on X on Saturday, FF Plus leader Corn\u00e9 Mulder welcomed the \u201cend of the socialist failure\u201d in Venezuela, and said that the statement by the Department of International Relations and Cooperation, which had not yet been issued, would not represent the party\u2019s views.<\/p>\n In further response to Daily Maverick, Mulder denied that the US had invaded Venezuela and that a regime change had occurred. He said: \u201cThe US acted on an indictment against Maduro and his wife. We welcome that.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cNational sovereignty cannot be a shield to hide behind while your regime is busy with human rights violations, narco terrorism, drug trafficking and more.<\/p>\n \u201cThe ANC should not now hide behind international law when it was the same ANC that failed to arrest Omar Al Bashir in 2015 when a court ordered them to do so. Under misguided ANC foreign policy SA finds [itself] in the company of Iran, China, North Korea, Hamas and other elements,\u201d added Mulder.<\/p>\n Good<\/p>\n Brett Herron, the Secretary-General of Good, welcomed the Department of International Relations and Cooperation\u2019s condemnation of the US\u2019 \u201cunlawful\u201d military action in Venezuela. Taking Maduro into custody by bombing Venezuela and capturing him in Caracas was an illegal act under international law,\u201d Herron said.<\/p>\n Read more: South Africa\u2019s Maduro dilemma \u2014 when principles meet pragmatism<\/a><\/p>\n However, he said that the actions of the US \u201cmust not be diminished\u201d to a referendum or debate on Maduro\u2019s conduct.<\/p>\n \u201cThe tendency to justify the US actions based on feelings about Maduro is dangerous for [the] world order and the concept of international law,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n \u201cThe fact that they [America] violated international law so audaciously exposes the international law fault line between power and legality. The act was illegal but international law has no power to be enforced and relies on respect for the conventions and a commitment to a world order. The US acted because they could, because they\u2019re powerful \u2013 and Trump said as much when he said, \u2018nobody can stop us<\/a>\u2019.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cIt is just as dangerous for some world leaders to be condoning this capture, even if it is indirectly, by already talking about their desire to see a smooth and just transition of power. The condemnation of the actions of the US should be unequivocal,\u201d said Herron.<\/p>\n Build One SA<\/p>\n Bosa did not condemn the US military intervention, but called for an urgent meeting of the UN Security Council to \u201cconsider\u201d the US\u2019 actions in the Latin American nation.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s now vital that multilateral institutions execute their mandates\u2026 This is not the time for appeasement. Weak multilateral institutions allow strongman individuals to take advantage.<\/p>\n \u201cGoing forward, the international community must ensure free and fair elections are held in Venezuela and a sovereign democratic government is elected that is not beholden to any other country or interests,\u201d said Bosa spokesperson Graham Charters.<\/p>\n Rise Mzansi<\/p>\n Rise Mzansi leader Songezo Zibi, in a video on Saturday, said the US action in Venezuela \u201cmust be condemned in the strongest possible terms, because it is unlawful\u201d in terms of international law as well as US domestic law.<\/p>\n .US action in Venezuela is criminal and has echoes of 1930s Europe as Hitler went on the rampage and plunged the world into WW2. There is absolutely no justification for this action. It’s unlawful in international and US domestic law. pic.twitter.com\/CTxKolCw64<\/a><\/p>\n![\"Trump-Venezuela\"](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/africa\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/GettyImages-2254498929_175661.jpg\" "\\"(L-R)")
(L-R) White House Deputy Chief of Staff and Homeland Security Adviser Stephen Miller, CIA Director John Ratcliffe, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Secretary of War Pete Hegseth and Chairperson of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Dan Caine listen as President Donald Trump addresses the media during a news conference at his Mar-a-Lago club on 3 January in Palm Beach, Florida. Trump confirmed that the US military had carried out a large-scale strike in Caracas overnight, resulting in the capture of Venezuelan leader Nicol\u00e1s Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores. (Photo:Joe Raedle \/ Getty Images) <\/p>\n![\"Reuters-Maduro-narcotics](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/africa\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/13622785_779931.jpg\" "\\"Maduro")
Maduro and Flores arrive at the Wall Street Heliport during their transport to the federal courthouse for their arraignment in New Yorkon 5 January 2026. (Photo: EPA \/ Stringer) <\/p>\n![\"Trump-Venezuela\"](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/africa\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/13621571_607220.jpg\" "\\"")
A building that was damaged by an explosive device in Catia la Mar, Venezuela, on 4 January 2026. (Photo: EPA \/ Miguel Gutiarez) <\/p>\n