US Envoy to UN Mike Waltz defends Maduro's arrest as 'law enforcement', rejects claims of occupation
NEW YORK CITY, NEW YORK: The capture of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro was a “law enforcement operation,” not an act of war, the United States’ envoy to the United Nations said on Monday, January 5, insisting that Washington is “not occupying a country.”
Speaking at a meeting of the UN Security Council, US envoy Mike Waltz described Saturday’s operation as a narrowly targeted action carried out with military support against “two indicted fugitives of American justice.”
“There is no war against Venezuela or its people. We are not occupying a country,” Waltz told the council.
Mike Waltz defends US military operation against Nicholas Maduro
Waltz characterized the action as a “surgical law enforcement operation facilitated by the US military against two indicted fugitives of American justice- Nicolás Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores.
He accused Maduro of being “responsible for attacks on the people of the United States, for destabilizing the Western Hemisphere, and illegitimately repressing the people of Venezuela.”
Waltz said that the operation followed repeated diplomatic efforts that he claimed were rebuffed by Caracas.
The envoy said President Donald Trump had pursued diplomacy before authorizing the action, arguing that Maduro failed to engage meaningfully.
Waltz referenced Trump’s remarks on Saturday that the United States would “run” Venezuela until a “safe, proper and judicious transition” could be ensured, framing the administration’s objective as stabilizing the region.
“The United States wants a better future for Venezuela,” Waltz said, adding that stability would benefit the region and the wider international community.
Russia condemns US action
Russia’s Ambassador to the United Nations Vasily Nebenzya, sharply criticized Washington’s actions, calling on the United States to immediately release Maduro and his wife.
Nebenzya denounced what he described as a “US act of armed aggression against Venezuela,” warning that the operation could signal a return to colonialism and imperial domination.
“The assault against the leader of Venezuela… has become a harbinger of a turn back to the era of lawlessness and US domination by force,” he told the council.
Nebenzya accused Washington of fueling “fresh momentum for neocolonialism and imperialism” and said that the implications extended beyond Venezuela to the entire Western Hemisphere.
He also suggested that the US had forfeited moral authority on international law, noting that countries which often demand respect for the UN Charter now appeared “particularly hypocritical and unseemly,” an apparent reference to Western criticism of Russia’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine.
