NEW YORK — U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres warned the U.S. capture of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro could intensify instability inside Venezuela and ripple across the region, while raising concerns about whether the operation complied with international law, Jan. 6, 2026.
Speaking as the Security Council convened an emergency meeting, Guterres urged Venezuelan political actors to pursue “inclusive and democratic dialogue,” even as Washington defended the weekend raid as a narrowly tailored law enforcement action.
Guterres warns of precedent as Venezuela faces a volatile moment
In remarks delivered to council members, Guterres said he was “deeply concerned about the possible intensification of instability in the country, the potential impact on the region, and the precedent it may set for how relations between and among states are conducted.” He also voiced concern that “the rules of international law have not been respected,” according to the U.N. account carried by multiple outlets.
The operation, carried out in Caracas on Saturday, removed Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, from Venezuelan custody and transferred them to the United States, where Maduro is expected to face federal charges including narco-terrorism conspiracy, according to U.S. and U.N. briefings. The Security Council session took place just hours before Maduro was due in court in Manhattan.
Washington’s U.N. ambassador, Mike Waltz, told the council the United States had conducted “a surgical law enforcement operation” and said the U.S. did not plan to occupy Venezuela. U.S. officials cited Article 51 of the U.N. Charter, which addresses self-defense, while Guterres and several delegations pointed to the charter’s prohibition on the threat or use of force against another state’s territorial integrity.
Venezuela’s U.N. ambassador, Samuel Moncada, denounced the raid as “an illegitimate armed attack lacking any legal justification,” telling the council that state institutions remained in control. Russia, China and Colombia also condemned the operation, while other members focused on calls for restraint and respect for the U.N. Charter.
How this crisis connects to earlier Venezuela flashpoints
The case against Maduro is rooted in a U.S. criminal push that began years before the raid: U.S. prosecutors unsealed indictments in 2020 accusing him and other officials of narco-terrorism and trafficking. That 2020 indictment has repeatedly strained already frozen relations between Caracas and Washington.
International scrutiny has also widened beyond U.S. courts. In 2021, the International Criminal Court prosecutor said he would open an investigation into possible crimes against humanity in Venezuela, adding another layer of legal pressure on the government.
And after Venezuela’s disputed 2024 presidential election, the U.N. mission said authorities escalated repression to keep power, a finding that continues to shape how governments frame the country’s political legitimacy. A 2024 Reuters report on the U.N. mission’s findings documented allegations of intensified crackdowns following protests.
Now, Guterres is warning that those long-running pressures—political, economic and legal—could collide with the shock of Maduro’s removal in a way that deepens uncertainty for Venezuelans and neighboring states.
Additional reporting on the Security Council session and the U.N. position is available via the U.N. Department of Political and Peacebuilding Affairs, Australia’s ABC, and Al Jazeera’s coverage of the legality questions, alongside the detailed Reuters account of Guterres’ earlier warning that the action set a “dangerous precedent” and the Reuters report on his remarks to the Security Council.
