Global condemnation grows over U.S. strikes in Venezuela

The unilateral U.S. strikes in Venezuela and unprecedented forcible seizure of Venezuelan President Nicholas Maduro continues to draw protests and criticism from international community.

Protests have taken place in the United States and Venezuela as well as outside U.S. embassies in multiple countries including Sri Lanka, Japan and Indonesia. 

The Organization of the American States (OAS) held an emergency meeting on Tuesday, during which countries including Brazil, Mexico and Colombia strongly condemned the U.S. military action in Venezuela.

Mexico's representative, Alejandro Encinas Rodriguez, said at the meeting that the history of Latin America is clear and resolute: intervention has never brought lasting stability or well-being, and only peoples themselves can build their own future, decide their path forward, exercise sovereignty over their natural resources.

The OAS secretary general, Albert Ramdin, pointed to the group's charter, which states, among other stipulations, that any act of aggression against one country in the Americas is an act of aggression "against all the other" countries. He added the rules are "not a suggestion, but an obligation and a moral responsibility."

"As has happened before in our hemisphere and now in Venezuela the hemisphere must act collectively to return to accepted norms and principles," Ramdin said.

Elsewhere, South African President Cyril Ramaphosa described Washington's action as a violation of Venezuela's sovereignty and territorial integrity and called for the immediate release of Maduro and his wife.

"We reject utterly the actions that the United States has embarked upon and stand with the people of Venezuela, and we demand the release of President Maduro and his wife as well," Ramaphosa said, when speaking at the 31st annual commemoration of Joe Slovo held at Avalon Cemetery in Johannesburg.

The South African president also urged the UN Security Council to act decisively to uphold international law and maintain international peace and security.

The Russian Foreign Ministry said in a statement on Tuesday that Russia consistently advocates for the de-escalation of the current situation and the resolution of all existing issues through constructive dialogue and respects for international law and the UN Charter.

"Latin America and the Caribbean must remain a zone of peace. The sovereign development of all countries in the region must be guaranteed," said the statement.

The Non-Aligned Movement has also protested against the U.S. attack on Venezuela, saying it is a violation of the Charter of the United Nations and the norms of international law, according to a news release issued by the Ugandan government on Tuesday.

The statement said the attack is "an act of war" against Venezuela that undermines regional and international peace and threatens the right to life of the Venezuelan people.

The statement demanded an immediate cessation of all hostilities against Venezuela, as well as full respect for its sovereignty, territorial integrity, political independence and inalienable right to self-determination.

It added that the United States should be held accountable for what it described as ongoing acts of aggression.

Iro Sarkka, a senior research fellow at the Finnish Institute of International Affairs, told Finnish daily Helsingin Sanomat that the U.S. attack on Venezuela is illegal under international law, though not surprising.

Sarkka added it is consistent with a U.S. security strategy that professes respect for sovereignty while treating the United States as an exception because of its global interests.

"This is a chilling message for Finland and all of the United States' key allies," the researcher was quoted as saying.

(With input from agencies)