UNITED NATIONS, Jan 06 (AFP/Reuters): UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Monday called for respect of nations' political independence following a US military operation in Venezuela that Washington defended as a police action against Caracas's "fugitive" leader.
US forces seized Nicolas Maduro and his wife over the weekend, bringing to an end 12 years of increasingly authoritarian rule by the left-wing leader, whom Washington accused of running a cartel and targeted with a $50 million bounty.
Guterres urges "respect for the principles of sovereignty, political independence and territorial integrity of states," according to remarks read on his behalf by Under-Secretary-General Rosemary DiCarlo during an emergency UN Security Council meeting on the crisis.
World is less safe after US
action in Venezuela: UN
The world community must make clear that U.S. intervention in Venezuela is a violation of international law that makes the world less safe, the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights said on Tuesday.
U.S. forces ousted Venezuelan leader Nicolas Maduro in a surprise operation at the weekend. He faces four criminal charges in the U.S., including narco-terrorism, and Maduro's vice president has been sworn in as interim president.
Ousted Venezuelan president Nicolas Maduro pleaded not guilty to drug trafficking and other charges at a defiant appearance in a New York court Monday, two days after being snatched by US forces in a stunning raid on his home in Caracas.
Maduro, 63, told a federal judge in Manhattan "I'm innocent. I'm not guilty."
Smiling as he entered the courtroom and wearing an orange shirt with beige trousers, Maduro spoke softly.
"I'm president of the Republic of Venezuela and I'm here kidnapped since January 3, Saturday," Maduro told the court, speaking in Spanish through an interpreter. "I was captured at my home in Caracas, Venezuela."
Maduro's wife Cilia Flores likewise pleaded not guilty. The judge ordered both to remain behind bars and set a new hearing date of March 17.
Military remains loyal
after Maduro ouster
Real change has not come to Venezuela despite Nicolas Maduro's ouster as president and the armed forces remain loyal to the regime: that was the blunt assessment Monday of former security operatives living in exile.
Last weekend, from the Colombian-Venezuelan border, Williams Cancino watched the spectacular US snatch-and-grab of his ex-boss and president.
He hoped it could be the beginning of freedom for Venezuela, after a quarter century of repression, economic depression and one-party rule.
About 200 US troops entered
Caracas to seize Maduro
Close to 200 US military personnel entered the Venezuelan capital Caracas as part of the operation to seize leftist leader Nicolas Maduro, Pentagon chief Pete Hegseth said on Monday.
US forces captured Maduro and his wife over the weekend, bringing to an end 12 years of increasingly authoritarian rule by the left-wing leader, whom Washington accused of running a drug cartel and targeted with a $50 million bounty.
"Nearly 200 of our greatest Americans went downtown in Caracas... and grabbed an indicted individual wanted by American justice, in support of law enforcement, without a single American killed," Hegseth said in a speech to US sailors and shipbuilders in Virginia.
