UNITED NATIONS (FN)<\/strong> \u2014 Russia\u2019s envoy to the United Nations on Monday demanded the immediate release of Venezuelan President Nicol\u00e1s Maduro, warning that Washington\u2019s actions could usher in a new era of colonialism and imperialism.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThe assault against the leader of Venezuela\u2026 has become a harbinger of a turn back to the era of lawlessness and U.S. domination by force,\u201d Ambassador Vasily Nebenzya told the UN Security Council. He condemned what he called \u201ca U.S. act of armed aggression against Venezuela\u201d and urged Washington \u201cto immediately release the legitimately elected president of an independent state and his spouse, Cilia Flores.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Nebenzya accused the United States of \u201cgenerating fresh momentum for neocolonialism and for imperialism,\u201d saying such practices had been \u201crepeatedly and decisively condemned and repudiated by the peoples of this region and by the global south as a whole.\u201d He added, \u201cThe bell now tolls across the region, ringing for every country of the Western Hemisphere.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n The envoy also took aim at Western governments, accusing them of hypocrisy. \u201cThose who, in other circumstances, froth at the mouth and demand that others respect the UN Charter, today seem particularly hypocritical and unseemly,\u201d he said, in apparent reference to Western criticism of Russia for its invasion of Ukraine in 2022.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Responding to the criticism, U.S. envoy Mike Waltz defended the operation, describing it as a \u201csurgical law enforcement operation facilitated by the U.S. military against two indicted fugitives of American justice: narco\u2011terrorist Nicol\u00e1s Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores.\u201d Waltz stressed that \u201cthere is no war against Venezuela or its people. We are not occupying a country.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n He told the Security Council that Maduro was \u201cresponsible for attacks on the people of the United States, for destabilizing the western hemisphere and illegitimately repressing the people of Venezuela.\u201d Waltz added that President Donald Trump had \u201cgiven diplomacy a chance,\u201d which he claimed Maduro failed to take. \u201cThe United States wants a better future for Venezuela,\u201d he said. \u201cWe believe a better future for the people of Venezuela and for the people of the region and the world is stabilizing the region and making the neighborhood that we live in a much better and safer place.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Latin American governments have offered mixed reactions. Colombia expressed concern about regional stability, while Mexico urged respect for sovereignty. Brazil called for dialogue, warning that escalation could worsen humanitarian conditions and migration pressures across South America.<\/p>\n\n\n\n European officials have been cautious, with the European Union stressing the need for adherence to international law but stopping short of condemning Washington outright. Analysts say the muted response reflects Europe\u2019s balancing act between supporting U.S. policy and avoiding a precedent that could undermine global norms.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Economist Jeffrey Sachs added his own warning, cautioning against allowing international law \u201cto wither into irrelevance\u201d in the face of unilateral military actions. Legal experts have noted that the International Criminal Court and UN Charter provisions could become central to debates over the legitimacy of Maduro\u2019s capture.<\/p>\n\n\n\n As Maduro\u2019s case unfolds in New York, the clash at the UN highlights a broader struggle over sovereignty, intervention, and the future of international law. For Russia and its allies, the courtroom drama is not just about one leader but about resisting what they see as a return to U.S. domination by force, while Washington insists it is enforcing justice against indicted fugitives.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Global backlash and U.S. defense as Maduro\u2019s capture sparks debate on sovereignty UNITED NATIONS (FN) \u2014 Russia\u2019s envoy to the United Nations on Monday demanded the immediate release of Venezuelan President Nicol\u00e1s Maduro, warning that Washington\u2019s actions could usher in a new era of colonialism and imperialism. \u201cThe assault against the leader of Venezuela\u2026 has […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":12,"featured_media":26008,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[4,5,1138],"tags":[3688,3680,3686,2089,473,66,3587,3684,3383,3683,1832,3685,3687,3696,1618,3691,3695,3066,3682,3693,2091,3692,3697,49,3689,3690,3681,274,389,3679,2161],"class_list":["post-26007","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-featured","category-international","category-politics","tag-brazil","tag-cilia-flores","tag-colombia","tag-diplomacy","tag-donald-trump","tag-european-union","tag-geopolitical-tensions","tag-global-south","tag-humanitarian-crisis","tag-imperialism","tag-international-law","tag-jeffrey-sachs","tag-latin-america","tag-law-enforcement-operation","tag-mexico","tag-migration","tag-mike-waltz","tag-moscow","tag-neocolonialism","tag-new-york-court-appearance","tag-nicolas-maduro","tag-oil-industry","tag-regional-stability","tag-russia","tag-sovereignty","tag-u-s-intervention","tag-un-security-council","tag-united-nations","tag-united-states","tag-vasily-nebenzya","tag-venezuela"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.funminews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/Screenshot_5-1-2026_9205_edition.cnn_.com_.jpeg?fit=611%2C433&ssl=1","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.funminews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26007","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.funminews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.funminews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.funminews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/12"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.funminews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=26007"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.funminews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26007\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":26009,"href":"https:\/\/www.funminews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26007\/revisions\/26009"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.funminews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/26008"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.funminews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=26007"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.funminews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=26007"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.funminews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=26007"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}