. The US has attacked several strategic points in Venezuela and its president, Donald Trump, has announced that his troops Nicolás Maduro, and his wife, Cilia Flores.
It is an action similar to the one that the North American country also carried out in December 1989. So, in the so-called Operation Just Causethe United States invaded Panama, overthrew the power of Manuel Noreiga and was arrested accused of drug trafficking. Coincidentally, it was on January 3, 1990 when he surrendered to US forces.
After that, Noriega was taken to the United States, tried and sentenced to 40 years in prison.. Finally, he was extradited to France and then to Panama, where He served sentences for crimes during his dictatorship and died in 2017..
The operation in Venezuela has many similarities with what happened 36 years ago. But the big question is whether this action, that of attacking Venezuela and detaining a head of state on foreign soil respects international law.
What international law says
The answer, on this occasion, is quite simple. No, this Saturday’s US operation does not respect international law, according to the charter of fundamental principles of the United Nations (UN).
To verify this, we only need to go to article 2, paragraphs 1 and 4, of the UN Charter:
- 1. The Organization is based on the principle of sovereign equality of all its Members.
- 4. The Members of the Organization, in their international relations, will refrain from resorting to the threat or use of force against the territorial integrity or political independence of any Stateor in any other manner incompatible with the Purposes of the United Nations.
Set a “dangerous precedent”
Ezequiel Jiménez, Doctor in International Law at Middlesex University (United Kingdom), has published a reflection on the social network X in which he explained that the US attack sets a “dangerous” precedent. “Without a doubt, the political situation in Venezuela must be different“, he began.
“But an illegal foreign armed military intervention, with a long history, will not produce the desired political result and sets a dangerous precedent (once again) for a peaceful region of the world“, he highlighted.
“Now the test is whether the OAE and the Security Council react accordingly, together with MERCOSUR and CELAC. There are better ways to get out of a dictatorship than bombs. Reminder: the International Criminal Court maintains jurisdiction over Venezuela,” he noted in a second message.
The Doctor in International Law has assured that Venezuela is “just the latest case of erosion of the international legal order by the United States“. “A case with problems, but with a stable system. From Iraq (2003) to Yemen, Nigeria, Iran, Syria, Somalia and even Greenland, to name a few,” he added.
