U.S. attacks on Venezuela prompt praise, anger — and fear

MEXICO CITY — Argentina’s president called it “excellent news for the free world.”

Iran condemned this as “a clear violation of national sovereignty”.

Canada has said little except that it is “following developments closely.”

The dramatic US capture of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro was welcomed by world leaders allied with President Trump and condemned by those who oppose him.

Other countries responded cautiously to news of the covert U.S. operation, hoping to stay out of the crosshairs of the notoriously vindictive American president, who has freely used tariffs and hinted at a willingness to expand his military campaign.

On Saturday, as details emerged about the early morning capture of Maduro and his wife by special operations forces from their home in Caracas and the White House’s plan to exploit Venezuela’s vast oil reserves, Trump boasted that he had “reasserted American power in a very strong way” and suggested he could next target Cuba, Colombia and Mexico.

At a news conference, Trump said he wanted to “help the people in Cuba,” which he described as a “failed nation,” and threatened military action against Colombia, where leftist President Gustavo Petro is one of Trump’s most vocal critics.

Trump claimed without evidence that Petro was a drug trafficker and warned that the Colombian leader should “watch his ass.”

In an interview with Fox News on Saturday, Trump also revived warnings that US forces could intervene in Mexico, one of America’s closest allies.

“The cartels rule Mexico,” he said. “We must do something.”

Some conservative leaders in Mexico welcome the possibility of U.S. drone strikes on cartel targets, and nearly half of Mexicans surveyed in recent polls said they support U.S. aid in fighting organized crime.

But Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum has repeatedly insisted that she will not allow the US military to fight drug cartels within her country’s borders.

“It’s not going to happen,” he said late last year when Trump threatened such an operation. “We do not want any foreign government intervention”

It reissued a statement made by the State Department on Saturday: “The government of Mexico strongly condemns and rejects the unilateral military actions carried out in recent hours by the armed forces of the United States against targets on the territory of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela.”

Sheinbaum also mentioned the United Nations Charter, which says members of the organization “shall refrain in their international relations from the threat or use of force against the territorial integrity or political independence of any state.”

People took part in a demonstration against the US military intervention in Venezuela in front of the White House in Washington on Saturday.

(Mandel Ngan/AFP via Getty Images)

Trump’s actions prompted a rare statement from Andrés Manuel López Obrador, whose Mexican presidency ends in 2024 and has rarely spoken publicly since his retirement.

López Obrador, who became friends with Trump during Trump’s first presidency, said, “I am retired from politics, but my libertarian beliefs prevent me from remaining silent in the face of the brazen attacks on the sovereignty of the Venezuelan people and the kidnapping of their president.” “None of them [Simon] Neither Bolivar nor Lincoln would accept the US government acting as a global tyranny.”

He told Trump not to bend to the will of advisers who are pushing for military operations. “Tell the hawks to go to hell, you have the capacity to act with practical judgment,” López Obrador said.

In Latin America, the Middle East and other parts of the world familiar with the long shadow of American intervention, Saturday’s operation revived memories of past US airstrikes, coups and military occupations.

Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva said, “The bombings on Venezuelan territory and the capture of the president cross an unacceptable line.” He said Maduro’s ouster was a reminder of the “darkest moments.” [U.S.] intervention in Latin America and the Caribbean.”

United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres described the action against Maduro as setting a “dangerous precedent,” according to his spokesman Stephane Dujarric, without addressing specifics or possible new targets.

“He is deeply concerned about the lack of compliance with the rules of international law,” Dujarric said of Guterres.

U.S. involvement in the region dates back 200 years, when President James Monroe declared Latin America beyond the pale of European colonialism and launched a campaign to establish the United States as a hemispheric power.

Over the decades, the United States has carried out a range of interventions, from military invasions to covert operations to economic pressure campaigns. Their motivations included fighting communism and protecting U.S. commercial interests.

At Saturday’s press conference, Trump hailed the Monroe Doctrine, which many in Latin America condemned as an imperialist plan.

“We’ve gone way beyond that,” Trump said of the doctrine. “American dominance in the Western Hemisphere will never again be questioned.”

While many countries in Latin America criticized the US campaign in Venezuela, others applauded it, highlighting the sharp political divisions there.

“The time is coming for all the narco-Chavista criminals,” conservative Ecuadorian President Daniel Noboa wrote of X, referring to followers of the late leftist revolutionary Hugo Chavez, who served as president of Venezuela before Maduro. “Their structures will eventually collapse across the continent.”

El Salvador President Nayib Bukele, whose country’s most notorious prison houses Venezuelans deported from the United States last year, posted a U.S.-released photo of Maduro blindfolded and handcuffed on Saturday.

Meanwhile, Uruguay’s foreign ministry said it rejected “military intervention by one country in the territory of another.”

The actions in Venezuela reverberated around the world.

Beijing, which has been trying to expand its influence in Latin America in recent years, said in a statement: “China is deeply shocked and strongly condemns the US’s blatant use of force against a sovereign state and its action against its president.”

Iran, whose leadership is concerned about being the target of a similar US operation, said the action in Venezuela “represents a serious violation of regional and international peace and security.”

“The consequences affect the entire international system,” he said.