The European Commission has refused to evaluate the legality of the US attack on Venezuela and capture of leader Nicolás Maduro, arguing that it would be premature to provide a legal assessment of Saturday’s dramatic events.
“As the events just unfolded, it is too early to look into and assess all the implications in terms of a legal assessment,” Commission foreign affairs spokesperson Anitta Hipper told reporters on Monday, adding that “all actors” must nevertheless respect international law.
Commission chief spokesperson Paula Pinho also suggested that Washington’s military intervention, which is reported to have killed 40 people and has been condemned by many legal experts, could benefit the Venezuelan people by leading to the overthrow of Maduro’s authoritarian regime.
“This can create an opportunity for those who have been democratically elected in Venezuela to run the country,” Pinho said.
Edmundo González, who lost a presidential election to Maduro last year in a vote that many claim was stolen, described himself as the “president-elect” of Venezuela in a social media post released on Sunday.
González is backed by fellow opposition leader María Corina Machado, who won the Nobel Peace Prize last year, and is also a staunch supporter of Washington’s military intervention.
In a press conference on Saturday, however, US President Donald Trump dismissed Machado as a potential replacement for Maduro, saying that she is a “very nice woman” but that she “doesn’t have the support… or the respect” to govern the oil-rich country.
Trump later warned that former Vice-President Delcy Rodríguez, who was sworn in as Venezuela’s interim leader over the weekend, will “pay a very big price, probably bigger than Maduro” if she “doesn’t do what’s right”.
He also said on Sunday that Washington is now “in charge” in Venezuela.
Rodríguez has condemned the attacks and stressed that Venezuela will “never return to being the colony of another empire”. She has also received the backing of the country’s powerful military.
Maduro, who has ruled Venezuela since 2013 and has been indicted on drug-trafficking charges in the US, is expected to appear in court in New York later on Monday, along with his wife, Cilia Flore, who was also captured by US forces during Saturday’s early morning raid.
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