US attack on Venezuela undermines international law
In the media image: Roger Kuzna on Unsplash
The US attack and the arrest of Venezuelan President Maduro have raised questions worldwide. Two Leiden experts in international law, Anna Marhold and Jens Iverson of the Grotius Centre, told media outlets that this constitutes a violation of international law.
With the violent arrest of the Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro, the United States has clearly breached international law. Although this has often occurred in the past, it was rarely done using such a weak excuse: the claim that Maduro is involved in drugs trafficking to the US. ‘This operation does not even come close to being a lawful action’, argues Jens Iverson in the FD newspaper. ‘Drug trafficking is a major problem, but it does not amount to an armed attack on the United States and therefore cannot justify this action.’
Speaking to NRC newspaper, Anna-Alexandra Marhold called it ‘another blow' to the international legal order and a violation of the non-intervention principle. This stipulates that countries may not interfere in the internal affairs of other countries. ‘International law is built on the principle that all countries are legally equal to one another. The fact that political reality often differs does nothing to detract from that principle.’ However, Marhold emphasises that the legal system has not yet collapsed: 'International law is under severe pressure, but it isn't dead.'
Iverson also stresses the importance of international law: ‘The prohibition on the use of force between countries has given us the longest era of peace in history. Watering down that norm now, failing to confront Trump for fear of higher tariffs, is shortsighted and puts our security at risk.'
The attack is reminiscent of the Monroe Doctrine, in which the United States claimed a sphere of influence over the Western Hemisphere. Europe has so far responded mainly with soft diplomacy, without strong condemnation. The Leiden experts warn that now is the time for concrete legal countermeasures and clear reinforcement of norms to prevent geopolitics from ultimately overshadowing international law.
More information?
Read the full NRC article (€, in Dutch)
Read the full FD article (€, in Dutch)