United States President Donald Trump made a concerning admission after kidnapping the Venezuelan President.
Over the weekend (3 January), the US launched strikes on Venezuela in which Maduro, who has been widely condemned as an illegitimate leader, and his wife, First Lady Cilia Flores, were captured by US forces and removed from the country.
Legal experts say the campaign likely breached both US and international law.
Among the international laws the US may have breached, if it provides no justification for the attacks, is the founding charter of the United Nations.
Advert
Article 2 of the UN Charter says all members should refrain from 'the threat or use of force against the territorial integrity or political independence of any state'.
UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres said he was 'deeply concerned that rules of international law have not been respected with regard to the January 3 military action' and that the 'grave' action by the US could set a precedent for future relations between nations, per PA.
Maduro, who was seized from his home on Saturday in a middle-of-the-night military operation, appeared at a court in New York on Monday (5 January), when he pleaded not guilty to 'narco-terrorism' charges and claimed he was a prisoner of war.
His deputy, Delcy Rodriguez, has been sworn in as interim leader.
Trump has since lauded the US military capture of Maduro.
"It was brilliant tactically," the 79-year-old president told Republican lawmakers on Tuesday (6 January)."We have the best weapons in the world."
"It was so complex – 152 airplanes. Many, many talk about boots on the ground. We had a lot of boots on the ground, but it was amazing," he said of the attack, which, as we say, leading rights experts have described as illegal.
"Think of it, nobody was killed. And on the other side, a lot of people were killed – unfortunately, I say that."
He then stated that the US cut off electricity across the country before the attack.
"The electricity for the entire country was turned off," he added in his concerning admission. "The only people with lights were the people that had candles…so we sort of got them a little by surprise."
Following Maduro's capture, Trump said during a press conference that 'we’re in charge'.
"We’re going to run it, fix it," he said of Venezuela, while aboard Air Force One en route to Washington from his Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida.
Trump added in a news conference: "The oil business in Venezuela has been a bust, a total bust for a long period of time.
"We're going to have our very large United States oil companies, the biggest anywhere in the world, go in, spend billions of dollars, fix the badly broken infrastructure, the oil infrastructure, and start making money for the country."
Topics: Donald Trump, Politics, US News, News, World News
Rhiannon Ingle