Political leaders around the world, including in Scotland, question legality of US attack and capture of Venezuelan leader Nicolas Maduro.
Donald Trump meets John Swinney in the Oval Office(Image: Scottish Government)
Venezuela will be “run” by members of Donald Trump’s Cabinet, including Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth, the President announced last night. He said the US would run the country at least temporarily and would tap Venezuela’s vast oil reserves to sell “large amounts” to other countries.
The legal authority for what amounts to an invasion and takeover of a sovereign nation was not immediately clear. The White House did not seek the approval of congress before the strikes, something Secretary of State Marco Rubio said was to protect the integrity of the operation.
Political leaders around the world, including from Scotland, questioned the legality of the attacks and capture. John Swinney has said he is “deeply concerned” at Donald Trump’s attack on Venezuela and capture of its president Nicolas Maduro. The military action was denounced by other Scottish politicians as “outrageous” and a “dangerous and cynical act of imperialism”.
However the First Minister stopped short of directly criticising the US and branded Maduro an “illegitimate” leader after his presidential victory in 2024 was widely seen as fraudulent. Prime Minister Keir Starmer earlier also refused to condemn Trump but said the UK hadn’t been involved in the operation.
Swinney said: “I am deeply concerned at the events we have witnessed unfold in Venezuela over the course of today. The Maduro regime is without doubt illegitimate and authoritarian but it is absolutely essential that all nations act within the international rules based system.
“The international community must now ensure that de-escalation, diplomacy and democracy are the foundations of what follows the events of the last few hours.”
Night view of Caracas taken after a series of explosions heard on January 3, 2026.(Image: AFP via Getty Images)
Scottish Labour MSP Carol Mochan said: “The United States unilaterally declaring war on natural resource rich nations has only ever brought trouble and long term destruction to the world. This is cowboy politics and we will all be worse off because of it.”
Ex-Labour MSP Neil Findlay, who visited Venezuela in 2013 as part of an international election-monitoring delegation, said: “What’s happened is absolutely outrageous. It’s clearly terrorism. We saw the international community’s reaction to the situation when Russia invaded Ukraine… where is the international outrage on this one?
“The people of Venezuela are peaceful people. They just want to go on with life and try and get by like anyone else. I think many people in Latin America are sick of US incursions into their democratic process.”
He added: “We had the absolutely nauseating spectacle of Trump being awarded an international peace prize by FIFA just a few weeks ago and now we have this performance. What we need in these circumstances is international leadership from across the world to condemn what is an outrage. But it doesn’t surprise me that Starmer and Swinney and others are largely silent on these issues.”
Donald Trump speaks to the press following US military actions in Venezuela(Image: AFP via Getty Images)
Scottish Greens MSP Patrick Harvie said: “This is a dangerous and cynical act of imperialism and aggression from a Trump administration that has a proven contempt for human rights and international law. Donald Trump promised to end US wars, but since he was elected, he has cosied up to Vladimir Putin, armed Israel’s genocide against Palestinians in Gaza, and bombed Venezuela.
“The unprovoked and deadly invasion of another country while its citizens sleep should appal all of us. The fact that Venezuela has some of the world’s largest oil reserves makes this feel very familiar.”
MP Susan Murray, Lib Dem Scottish affairs spokeswoman, said: “The Prime Minister must condemn Trump’s total disregard for international law. Maduro is a brutal dictator, but this unlawful attack only makes the world less safe and risks emboldening the likes of Putin and President Xi.”
Dr Francisco Dominiguez, National Secretary of the Venezuela Solidarity Campaign, said: “The danger here is that if the United States gets away with regime change in Venezuela, in flagrant violation of international law, then there is no safe country in the Caribbean and certainly in Latin America. It’s all about regime change and it’s all about oil. The Trump administration targeted Venezuela because it had the largest oil reserves in the world.”
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Former Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn said: “I’m utterly appalled. The US talk about international law and order and a rules based systems whilst they bomb ships in the sea off the coast of Venezuela, now apparently bombing in Caracas and kidnapping the President. This is the behaviour of a cowboy state, not the behaviour of a member of the UN Security Council. It needs to be condemned in the strongest possible terms. I hope the British government will do just that.”
On Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s relationship with Donald Trump, he added: “I think he’s tried to build a relationship with Donald Trump which actually ends up being far too soft on him and we are paying a price with the US involvement in healthcare care in this country.
“I do think this is an opportunity for the British government to say very clearly, if it does believe in international law, then clearly what the US has done is illegal.
“It is illegal to invade a country for regime change, as happened in the case of Iraq, and that has been widely condemned as a violation of international law.”
This image posted on Donald Trump’s Truth Social account which the US President says is Venezuela’s President Nicolas Maduro(Image: Via AFP)
The United Nations said it was “deeply alarmed” by the U.S. strikes and reported detention of President Nicolás Maduro in Venezuela. It expressed concern that the escalation was a violation of international law.
“These developments constitute a dangerous precedent,” Stéphane Dujarric, spokesman for the UN secretary-general, said in a statement. Dujarric said the UN worried about the larger implications for Latin America and the Caribbean and called on “all actors in Venezuela” to respect human rights and the rule of law.
While Venezuela is a transit country for drugs bound for the US, it accounts for a relatively small proportion of illegal narcotics entering America.
Before taking questions at his Mar A Lago resort in Florida on Saturday afternoon, Trump posted a photo on Truth Social, which he said was Maduro aboard the USS Iwo Jima following his arrest. He wore a grey tracksuit, was blindfolded and wearing ear defenders.
He also posted footage of the strike accompanied by Fortunate Son by Creedence Clearwater Revival, a protest song about the Vietnam War draft.