The United Nations human rights office warned on Tuesday that the world has become less safe following a U.S. military operation that removed Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro from power, calling the intervention a serious violation of international law with far-reaching consequences.
In a sharply worded statement, the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights said the surprise U.S. action over the weekend undermined a core principle of the international system: the prohibition against using force to violate another nation’s sovereignty or political independence.
“It is clear that the operation weakened a fundamental rule of international law,” the office said, urging the global community to respond collectively and unequivocally. Chief spokesperson Ravina Shamdasani told reporters that nations must speak “with one voice” to reject such actions, warning that silence would erode the foundations of global security.
U.S. forces detained Maduro in the operation, and he now faces four criminal charges in the United States, including allegations of narco-terrorism. Following his removal, Venezuela’s vice president was sworn in as interim leader, marking a dramatic and uncertain transition for the oil-rich nation.
The UN human rights office rejected any suggestion that the intervention advanced human rights. Instead, Shamdasani said it damaged the international security framework designed to prevent conflict and escalation. “This does not make the world safer,” she said. “It sends a dangerous signal that powerful states can act without consequence.”
She stressed that Venezuela’s political future must be decided by Venezuelans themselves, free from external military pressure. Further instability or militarization, she warned, would likely deepen the country’s already severe human rights crisis.
The remarks add to growing international unease over the precedent set by the U.S. action, as governments and institutions weigh the broader implications for sovereignty, global order, and the fragile norms that govern the use of force.
