UN chief returns to New York ahead of schedule amid Venezuela crisis

UN Secretary-General António Guterres is urgently returning to New York after cutting short a trip to Lisbon because of developments in Venezuela, his spokesman Stéphane Dujarric said.

During a briefing for journalists, Dujarric said Guterres’ programme in Lisbon had been curtailed and that he was heading back to UN headquarters earlier than planned. Asked whether the emergency return was linked to events in Venezuela, Dujarric replied in the affirmative, Caliber.Az reports via foreign media. 

On January 5, a UN spokesperson declined to give a direct answer when asked whether the United Nations recognises the legitimacy of captured Venezuelan president Nicolás Maduro and his government.

The 15-member UN Security Council met at headquarters in New York just hours before Maduro was due to appear in a Manhattan federal court on drug charges, including narco-terrorism conspiracy. Maduro has denied any criminal involvement.

“I am deeply concerned about the possible intensification of instability in the country, the potential impact on the region, and the precedent it may set for how relations between and among states are conducted,” Guterres said in a statement delivered to the council by UN political affairs chief Rosemary DiCarlo.

Guterres also expressed concern that the US operation to capture Maduro did not respect the rules of international law.

Speaking at a press conference on January 3, US President Donald Trump said: “We are going to run the country until such time that we can do a safe, proper and judicious transition”.

The Venezuelan government has condemned the US action, describing it as a military aggression carried out in civilian and military areas and as a flagrant violation of the UN Charter, warning that it poses a threat to international and regional peace and security.

By Sabina Mammadli