The US has been condemned for breaking international law after it launched airstrikes on the Venezuelan capital and captured its president, Nicolás Maduro, and his wife.
France, Spain, Brazil, Russia, China and the European Commission were among those who said Donald Trump had broken international rules after US troops carried out the operation on Saturday morning. The move came amid six months of escalating tensions between Washington and the South American country.
There were also calls for the UN security council to urgently convene to discuss the matter.
The US attorney general, Pam Bondi, said the deposed Venezuelan leader and his wife, Cilia Flores, would face criminal charges in New York, which the US secretary of state, Marco Rubio, said would relate to the drug trade.
Trump said Maduro and Flores were taken to a ship after their kidnap by US forces. He told reporters they will be taken to New York. Russia has called for their release.
The UN secretary general, António Guterres, said the action by the US sets a “dangerous precedent”, a spokesperson said.
“The secretary general continues to emphasise the importance of full respect – by all – of international law, including the UN charter. He’s deeply concerned that the rules of international law have not been respected,” UN spokesperson Stéphan Dujarric said.
Brazil’s president, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, said that the US actions “crossed an unacceptable line”, comparing them to “the darkest moments of [US] interference in Latin America and the Caribbean” – an apparent reference to the dozens of US military interventions in the region over the past two centuries.
China’s foreign ministry hit out at “hegemonic behaviour” by the US, and said it threatened peace and security in Latin America and the Caribbean.
“China is deeply shocked and strongly condemns the use of force by the US against a sovereign country and the use of force against the president of a country,” it said.
It added: “We urge the US to abide by international law and the purposes and principles of the UN charter and stop violating the sovereignty and security of other countries.”
The EU Commission president, Ursula von der Leyen, as well as the Danish foreign minister said international law should be respected.
The French foreign minister, Jean-Noël Barrot, posted on social media: “The military operation that led to the capture of Nicolás Maduro violates the principle of not resorting to force that underpins international law. France reiterates that no lasting political solution can be imposed from the outside and that only sovereign people themselves can decide their future.”
Spain’s prime minister, Pedro Sánchez said: “Spain did not recognise the Maduro regime. But neither will it recognise an intervention that violates international law and pushes the region toward a horizon of uncertainty and belligerence.
“We call on all actors to think of the civilian population, to respect the United Nations Charter, and to articulate a fair and dialogued transition.”
Earlier on Saturday, Yolanda Díaz, one of Spain’s deputy prime ministers, said the US had violated both the UN charter and international legality.
She added: “We roundly condemn this imperialist attack on Venezuela. The world is less safe and less free since Trump and the international hate movement began acting with impunity. We will always be on the side of international law and peace.”
Reaction in South America was split. Argentina’s president, Javier Milei, an ally of Trump, posted on social media in the early hours: “Liberty advances! Long live Liberty!” Ecuador’s president, Daniel Noboa, said “time was coming for all the narco-Chávista criminals”.
But Lula was joined other leftwing leaders in the region, including Colombia’s Gustavo Petro, Mexico’s Claudia Sheinbaum and Chile’s Gabriel Boric, in denouncing the US intervention. “Attacking countries, in blatant violation of international law, is the first step towards a world of violence, chaos and instability, where the law of the strongest prevails over multilateralism,” Lula wrote.
The Cuban president, Miguel Díaz-Canel, described the attacks as “state terrorism against the Venezuelan people”.
Colombia has mobilised its armed forces in the aftermath of US strikes on neighbouring Venezuela. Petro said Colombia was concerned about a potential “massive influx” of refugees fleeing in the aftermath of the attacks.
The Russian foreign ministry said it was an “unacceptable violation of the sovereignty of an independent state”.
But the condemnation outside South America was not unanimous. Italy’s far-right prime minister Giorgia Meloni said the US’s actions were “legitimate”, despite previously stating that “external military action is not the way to end totalitarian regimes”.
Dr Carlos Solar, a senior research fellow on Latin America for the Rusi thinktank, said it was unclear whether the attack would lead to regime change in Venezuela.
He said: “The regime doesn’t have Maduro, but the regime is proving to be alive. You have the vice-president, you have some other civilians who were part of the Maduro entourage.
“If you go back to when Hugo Chávez died, Maduro replaced him, and ‘Chávismo’ didn’t die. He just turned into Maduro and it was kept for another decade and a half. So Maduro will be gone, but we might have a new movement taking force in Venezuela which might succeed him, depending on what the US does next.”
Dr Christopher Sabatini, a senior fellow for Latin America at the Chatham House thinktank, said the attacks were not a surprise and were “almost inevitable” after the last six months had failed to lead to Maduro’s removal.
He said: “According to surveys, US citizens are opposed to the use of its military in Venezuela. And any strikes inside Venezuela now will probably force a vote in Congress under the War Powers Act.
“But assuming even if there is regime change – and it’s by no means clear even if it does happen that it will be democratic – the US’s military action will likely require sustained US engagement of some sort. Will the Trump White House have the stomach for that?”
