UN Security Council to hold emergency meeting on Venezuela on Monday

United Nations, Jan 4 (IANS) The UN Security Council will hold an emergency meeting on Monday on the US operation against Venezuela, the council presidency said.

“The presidency intends to hold the emergency meeting on Monday morning at 10 a.m. (1500 GMT),” said Khadija Ahmed, spokeswoman for the Somali Permanent Mission to the United Nations. Somalia holds the rotating presidency of the Security Council for the month of January, Xinhua news agency reported.

The United States launched an operation on Saturday and captured Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro and his wife in Caracas.

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres is “deeply alarmed” by the US action on Saturday in Venezuela that captured President Nicolas Maduro and called it “a dangerous precedent”.

Guterres’s Spokesperson Stephane Dujarric said the secretary-general is worried the military action “has potential worrying implications for the region”.

“Independently of the situation in Venezuela, these developments constitute a dangerous precedent”, the spokesperson said in a statement on Saturday.

“The Secretary-General continues to emphasise the importance of full respect by all of international law, including the UN Charter”, he said. “He’s deeply concerned that the rules of international law have not been respected”.

Guterres calls for an “inclusive dialogue, in full respect of human rights and the rule of law” and stresses the “importance of full respect — by all — of international law, including the UN Charter”, Dujarric said.

“He’s deeply concerned that the rules of international law have not been respected”, the spokesperson added.

In an early morning operation, US Delta forces attacked an army base in Venezuela, capping months of military buildup and picked up Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores.

They were put on a warship for transportation to New York, where “narco-terrorism” charges have been filed in a federal court, US officials said.

int/rs