The U.N. Security Council convened an emergency session Monday after the United States carried out a military action in Venezuela over the weekend targeting President Nicolás Maduro, as the United Nations chief warned the move may have violated international law and the country’s sovereignty.
Before the U.N.'s most powerful body, both allies and adversaries blasted President Donald Trump's intervention and his signaling the possibility of expanding military action to countries like Colombia and Mexico over drug trafficking accusations. He also reupped his threat to take over the Danish territory of Greenland for the sake of U.S. security interests.
In a statement, U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said he is "deeply concerned that rules of international law have not been respected with regard to the 3 January military action.”
He added that the "grave” action by the U.S. could set a precedent for how future relations between nations. Denmark, a fellow member of NATO with jurisdiction over the vast mineral-rich island of Greenland, echoed Guterres' concerns, saying the "inviolability of borders is not up for negotiation.”
"No state should seek to influence political outcomes in Venezuela through the use of threat of force or through other means inconsistent with international law,” said Christina Markus Lassen, Danish ambassador to the U.N.
