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US-Venezuela conflict
ChinaDiplomacy

US attack on Venezuela ‘death certificate’ for UN, will trigger global arms race: analyst

UN chief ‘deeply alarmed’ about implications, while China is described as seeing openings to entrench itself as alternative to America

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A helicopter carrying Venezuela’s deposed leader Nicolas Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, arrives in New York on Saturday. Photo: Reuters
Dewey Simin Beijing

The American attack on Venezuela on Saturday could further undermine international institutions and accelerate a global arms race, analysts warned, with one likening Washington’s actions to issuing a “death certificate” for the United Nations.

On Saturday, in a surprise precision operation, the US military struck Venezuela and captured its leader Nicolas Maduro and his wife, who were later placed in detention in New York. President Donald Trump later said the US would run the South American country for the foreseeable future and build a major presence in its oil industry.

On Sunday, Trump warned that the US could launch a second military strike if remaining members of the Maduro government did not cooperate with efforts to get Venezuela “fixed”.

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UN chief Antonio Guterres said he was “deeply alarmed” by the US operation and that it had “potential worrying implications for the region”, according to a statement.

“He’s deeply concerned that the rules of international law have not been respected,” the UN statement said of Guterres.

UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres is concerned that the American military intervention in Venezuela has “potential worrying implications for the region”. Photo: Reuters
UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres is concerned that the American military intervention in Venezuela has “potential worrying implications for the region”. Photo: Reuters

“Independently of the situation in Venezuela, these developments constitute a dangerous precedent,” it added.

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