U.S. Ambassador Mike Waltz delivered a defiant message to the United Nations Security Council today, pushing back against international characterizations of recent U.S. actions in Venezuela. Despite the scale of the airstrikes and the high-profile capture of Nicolás Maduro and the former First Lady, Waltz insisted the operation did not constitute an act of war.
“We are not occupying a country,” Waltz told the assembly. “This was a law enforcement operation in furtherance of lawful indictments that have existed for decades.”
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To justify the extraordinary move, the ambassador reached back into history, drawing a direct parallel to the 1989 U.S. invasion of Panama that resulted in the capture of dictator Manuel Noriega. Waltz argued that the removal of Maduro follows firmly established precedent for detaining foreign leaders facing criminal charges.
The ambassador promised that the legal basis for the operation would soon be made public, stating that “overwhelming evidence” of Maduro’s alleged crimes is slated to be “presented openly in U.S. court proceedings.” The deposed leader faces a litany of federal charges, including drug-terrorism conspiracy, cocaine-importation conspiracy, and weapons trafficking.
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Waltz also sought to strip Maduro of any diplomatic shield, referring to him as “an illegitimate so-called president” rather than a head of state.
Addressing the timeline of events leading up to the strikes, Waltz defended the White House’s approach, claiming the administration exhausted other avenues before authorizing the operation.
“I want to reiterate President Trump gave diplomacy a chance,” Waltz said. “He offered Maduro multiple offerings, he tried to de-escalate. Maduro refused to take them.”
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