{"id":671926,"date":"2026-01-03T21:08:13","date_gmt":"2026-01-03T21:08:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/671926\/"},"modified":"2026-01-03T21:08:13","modified_gmt":"2026-01-03T21:08:13","slug":"how-the-world-is-reacting-to-the-u-s-capture-of-nicolas-maduro","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/671926\/","title":{"rendered":"How the World Is Reacting to the U.S. Capture of Nicolas Maduro"},"content":{"rendered":"

World leaders reacted to the capture of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro<\/a> by the United States with a mixture of outrage, concern, and caution on Saturday.<\/p>\n

President Donald Trump announced the capture of Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, and a \u201clarge-scale\u201d strike against Venezuela hours after explosions were reported in the country\u2019s capital, Caracas.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The extraordinary attack follows months of pressure<\/a> from the Trump Administration on Maduro to cede power in the South American country over long-standing accusations of drug trafficking and election rigging.<\/p>\n

Read more<\/strong>: Venezuela Isn\u2019t Panama\u2014No Matter How Much Trump Wishes It Were<\/a><\/p>\n

It represents the largest U.S. military operation in Latin America since the 1989 invasion of Panama, when, as today, the U.S. captured the country’s leader, Manuel Antonio Noriega.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Many countries expressed outrage over the capture of Maduro on Saturday, while even some U.S. allies issued statements calling for the rule of law to be respected.\u00a0<\/p>\n

South American leaders in particular expressed anger at the attack. <\/p>\n

Here is a round-up of global reaction to the operation.\u00a0<\/p>\n

United Kingdom\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer said he wanted to speak to President Trump before making any firm statements either way about Maduro\u2019s capture.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

“I always say and believe we should uphold international law, but I think at this stage [in a] fast moving situation, let’s establish the facts and take it from there,\u201d he said in a statement to British broadcasters.\u00a0<\/p>\n

“I want to establish the facts first. I want to speak to President Trump,\u201d he said. “I want to speak to allies. As I say I can be absolutely clear we were not involved in that.”<\/p>\n

Russia <\/p>\n

Russia’s Foreign Ministry said it is “extremely alarmed” and called for “immediate clarification”, according to a statement posted on Saturday on the ministry’s Telegram channel.<\/p>\n

It added later in a post on X: \u201cThe US committed an act of armed aggression against Venezuela, which gives rise to deep concern & warrants condemnation.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThe pretexts used to justify these actions are untenable. Russia reaffirms its solidarity with the Venezuelan people,\u2019 it continued in the post.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

China<\/p>\n

China’s Foreign Ministry said in a statement that it was “deeply shocked” by what it described as a “blatant use of force against a sovereign state and action against its president.”<\/p>\n

“Such hegemonic acts of the U.S. seriously violate international law and Venezuela’s sovereignty and threaten peace and security in Latin America and the Caribbean region,” it said.<\/p>\n

“China firmly opposes it. We call on the U.S. to abide by international law and the purposes and principles of the UN Charter, and stop violating other countries\u2019 sovereignty and security,” the statement continued. <\/p>\n

United Nations<\/p>\n

The United Nations said it was “deeply alarmed” by the U.S. strikes and capture of Maduro, suggesting it could have violated international law. <\/p>\n

“These developments constitute a dangerous precedent,” St\u00e9phane Dujarric, spokesman for the U.N. secretary-general, said in a statement. <\/p>\n

“The Secretary-General is deeply alarmed by the recent escalation in Venezuela, culminating with today\u2019s United States military action in the country, which has potential worrying implications for the region,” she added. <\/p>\n

“The Secretary-General continues to emphasize the importance of full respect\u2014by all\u2014of international law, including the U.N. Charter. He\u2019s deeply concerned that the rules of international law have not been respected,” the statement continued <\/p>\n

European Union <\/p>\n

EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas wrote on X that she had spoken to US Secretary of State Marco Rubio and the EU ambassador in Caracas.<\/p>\n

“The EU has repeatedly stated that Mr Maduro lacks legitimacy and has defended a peaceful transition,” she wrote. “Under all circumstances, the principles of international law and the UN Charter must be respected. We call for restraint.”<\/p>\n

Mexico<\/p>\n

In a statement on X, Mexico’s President, Claudia Sheinbaum, shared an excerpt from the United Nations Charter. <\/p>\n

\u201cThe Members of the Organization, in their international relations, shall refrain from the threat or use of force against the territorial integrity or political independence of any State, or in any other manner inconsistent with the Purposes of the United Nations.\u201d<\/p>\n

Brazil <\/p>\n

Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva condemned the capture of Maduro as crossing \u201can unacceptable line\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cAttacking countries, in flagrant violation of international law, is the first step toward a world of violence, chaos, and instability, where the law of the strongest prevails over multilateralism,\u201d Lula wrote on X<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe international community, through the United Nations, needs to respond vigorously to this episode,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n

Colombia<\/p>\n

Colombia\u2019s President Gustavo Petro condemned the U.S. operation in several posts on X.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Government of Colombia rejects the aggression against the sovereignty of Venezuela and of Latin America,\u201d he wrote<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cInternal conflicts between peoples are resolved by those same peoples in peace. That is the principle of the self-determination of peoples, which forms the foundation of the United Nations system,\u201d Petro continued.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Denmark<\/p>\n

Denmark, which has been on the receiving end of threats from the Trump Administration to take control of Greenland, issued a muted response to the operation. <\/p>\n

“Dramatic development in Venezuela, which we are following closely. We need to get back on track toward de-escalation and dialogue. International law must be respected,” Foreign Minister Lars L\u00f8kke Rasmussen wrote on X<\/a>. <\/p>\n

Spain <\/p>\n

Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez called for “de-escalation and responsibility.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cInternational Law and the principles of the United Nations Charter must be respected,” Mr Sanchez wrote on X<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"World leaders reacted to the capture of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro by the United States with a mixture…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":671927,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3,4],"tags":[748,32,393,4884,12,28423,1144,712,16,15,8518,1764],"class_list":{"0":"post-671926","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-uk","8":"category-united-kingdom","9":"tag-britain","10":"tag-donald-trump","11":"tag-england","12":"tag-great-britain","13":"tag-news","14":"tag-news-desk","15":"tag-northern-ireland","16":"tag-scotland","17":"tag-uk","18":"tag-united-kingdom","19":"tag-venezuela","20":"tag-wales"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/115833215637663248","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/671926","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=671926"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/671926\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/671927"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=671926"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=671926"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=671926"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}