#international-law

#international-law

After acknowledging that maintaining this link currently requires great patience and diplomatic courage, in an implicit reference to the unpredictable and arbitrary behavior of U.S. President Donald Trump, Felipe VI stressed that it is an indispensable framework [] that emerged from the ashes of the Second World War and has fostered the flourishing of democracies, stability, growth, and the development of multilateralism.

In an interview with the Guardian, Richard Hermer, the government's most senior law officer and a close ally of Keir Starmer, said that in a complicated and dangerous world, leaders should be able to use statecraft to consider other factors when establishing whether to hold allies to account. In his first public comments since Britain's reaction to the US attack on Venezuela and threats toward Greenland, Hermer refrained from singling out the Trump administration,

On Saturday, United States military forces carried out a dramatic strike in Venezuela that resulted in the capture and forcible removal of President Nicolas Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores. They were flown to New York and are now in federal custody. Maduro appeared in federal court on drug and weapons charges and pleaded not guilty. Several governments, international legal experts and United Nations officials have described the military operation as an illegal kidnapping and a breach of international law.

the only constraint to his power as president of the US is my own morality, my own mind. It's the only thing that can stop me, Trump said, adding: I'm not looking to hurt people. He went on to concede I do in regards to whether his administration needed to adhere to international law, but said: It depends on what your definition of international law is.

This week, Sanchez did not wait for a joint EU statement to issue judgment on the US's illegal military intervention to capture the Venezuelan president, Nicolas Maduro: he swiftly joined Latin American countries in condemning it. A few hours later he went even further, saying the operation in Caracas represented a terrible precedent and a very dangerous one [which] reminds us of past aggressions, and pushes the world toward a future of uncertainty and insecurity, similar to what we already experienced after other invasions driven by the thirst for oil.

There's a very clear limit on enforcement jurisdiction internationally, and that is that one state cannot enforce its law on the territory of another state unless that state gives its consent, said Margaret Satterthwaite, United Nations special rapporteur on the independence of judges and lawyers. So if a state, for example, harboured someone that the US considered a fugitive, the US could approach that state and seek its consent to arrest them and bring them back to the US to stand trial.

In the early hours of 3 January 2026, US forces captured disputed Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores. Both were transferred to the US, where Maduro now deposed, faces charges of narco-terrorism.

For an inveterate liar, Donald Trump is remarkably honest. The best guide to what he thinks is what he says. When forecasting his likely course of action, start with his declared intentions removing the president of Venezuela, for example and assume he means it. When he says the US must take possession of Greenland, he is not kidding. The motives are sometimes muddled but rarely hidden.

Debt, poverty, war, and death in early-20th-century Venezuela were direct consequences of the machinations of Johnny Mack, a Philadelphia contract man connected to the highest ranks of the Republican Party. Mack used Venezuela to stage a war against his US rivals to establish a monopoly on asphalt, gaining control of a sputtering tar pit, which has been compared by more than a few to the gates of hell, near which no trees could grow nor birds fly.

The United States of America is a rogue nation, run by a violent criminal who operates outside the rule of law. The bombing of Venezuela and kidnapping of its president, Nicolás Maduro, so that he can stand for a show trial in New York, is a flagrant violation of international law. It is proof positive that the United States, under Trump, is the biggest "bad guy" on the international stage and should be treated accordingly.

Nicolás Maduro wasn't due to arrive at his arraignment yesterday in downtown Manhattan until noon, but a large crowd had already formed outside the federal courthouse by 9 a.m. Actually, two crowds. One had come to tell Donald Trump to keep his hands off Venezuela. The other, which seemed largely Venezuelan, had come to celebrate. Maduro was, until Saturday, a widely hated ruler. His last election campaign consisted of threatening his people with a "bloodbath" if he lost.

"I am innocent. I am not guilty. I am a decent man. I am still president of my country," Mr Maduro (63) said through an interpreter, before being cut off by US District Judge Alvin Hellerstein in Manhattan Federal Court. Mr Maduro's wife Cilia Flores also pleaded not guilty. The next court date was set for March 17. Dozens of protesters, both pro- and anti-Maduro, gathered outside the courthouse before the half-hour hearing.

Venezuela's ambassador to the UN, Samuel Moncada, condemned the US operation as an illegitimate armed attack lacking any legal justification, in remarks echoed by Cuba, Colombia and permanent UNSC members Russia and China. [The US] imposes the application of its laws outside its own territory and far from its coasts, where it has no jurisdiction, using assaults and the appropriation of assets, Cuba's ambassador, Ernesto Soberon Guzman, said, adding that such measures negatively affected Cuba.

The distinction, which some legal scholars dispute, determines what legal constraints apply, including the War Powers Resolution and the Geneva Conventions, which might protect Maduro as a prisoner of war. President Trump has threatened a second strike, and administration officials have suggested the campaign may notstop in Venezuela. The big picture: The overnight raidfollowed months of U.S.strikes on alleged "narco-terrorists" that killed dozens, along with seizures of vessels carrying Venezuelan oil.