Trump was ‘morally right’ to attack Venezuela and seize Maduro, says Kemi Badenoch
Kemi Badenoch has praised Donald Trump’s take on Venezuelan President Maduro as ‘morally correct’.
The Conservative leader, who gave the president his strongest support since US special forces attacked Venezuela, said he was justified in taking military action to end Maduro’s rule.
“Venezuela was a brutal regime,” he said.
“We (Britain) didn’t even recognize it as a legitimate government. I think what happened is quite extraordinary. But I understand why America did it.”
“The reason I say this is because I think morally it is the right thing to do in situations where legal certainty is not yet clear.
“I’m glad Maduro is gone, he was making people’s lives hell.”
Ms Badenoch said her reaction differed from other party leaders and MPs, partly as a result of her childhood background in Nigeria.
“I grew up under a military dictatorship [in Nigeria]So I know what it’s like to have someone like Maduro in office.
“I know what it’s like to have people celebrating in the street. That’s why I’m not condemning the United States.”
Asked whether it was right to send special forces to capture Maduro, Badenoch said, “From a moral perspective, yes.”
He continued: “I wish there was another way, but having personal experience of the suffering of the Venezuelan people, I cannot say anything different.”
Ms Badenoch acknowledged that the US occupation raised “serious questions about the rules-based order”.
But it created a new rift with Sir Keir Starmer, who reaffirmed his belief in international law by questioning it at every turn.
Accusing the prime minister of “hand wringing” and “projecting weakness,” she said: “As we all know, international law is what countries agree to.
“When people decide they disagree, there is no international law. There is no world police, no world government, no world court. These are treaties.”
Ms Badenoch supported her claim by noting that Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado had said that Venezuela was “already occupied by Russia, Iran and Hezbollah”.
Ms Badenoch added: “Where were the people talking about international law back then?”
However, he said his support for President Trump on Venezuela did not include threats to take over Greenland.
“It’s not for sale,” he told the BBC. “What happens to Greenland is up to Denmark and the Greenlandic people.”
