Threats to international peace and security - Security Council, 10085th meeting

United States action in Venezuela puts sovereignty of States, international law at stake, many speakers tell Security Council.

• Categories: Meetings & Events / Security Council
• Video Length: 02:55:08
• Production Date: 5 January 2026
• Asset Language: Arabic; English; French; Russian; Spanish; Chinese; Original
• Personal Subject: JEFFREY SACHS; ROSEMARY A. DICARLO; MADURO MOROS, NICOLÁS
• Corporate Name: DEPARTMENT OF POLITICAL AND PEACEBUILDING AFFAIRS - DPPA
• Subject Topical: INTERNATIONAL LAW; INTERNATIONAL PEACE AND SECURITY; INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS; SOVEREIGNTY; MILITARY ACTIVITY; PRESIDENTS; ABDUCTION; RULE OF LAW; MULTILATERALISM; UNITED NATIONS ROLE
• Geographic Subject: UNITED STATES; VENEZUELA
• MAMS Id: 3523110
• Parent Id: 3522850
• Alternate Title: MTG SC 10085 INTL PEACE SECURITY 05 JAN 2025 AM

Description

Amid a dramatic escalation between the United States and Venezuela, members of the Security Council were sharply divided over the fate of ousted President Nicolás Maduro Moros and next steps for his oil-rich nation, even as many delegates warned that Washington, D.C.’s, actions threaten the very foundations upon which the multilateral world order was built.

“Today, it is not only Venezuela’s sovereignty that is at stake,” said that country’s representative, who addressed the 15-member organ in its first meeting of 2026. “The credibility of international law, the authority of this Organization and the validity of the principle that no State can set itself up as judge, party and executor of the world order are also at stake.”

Describing the events of 3 January as profound and historic for the entire international community, he said his country was the target of an illegitimate armed attack, lacking any legal justification, by the United States. “If the kidnapping of a Head of State, the bombing of a sovereign country and the open threat of further armed action are tolerated or downplayed, the message sent to the world is a devastating one — namely, that the law is optional and that force is the true arbiter of international relations,” he warned.

• Briefer: Ms. Rosemary A. DiCarlo, Under-Secretary-General for Political and Peacebuilding Affairs
• Briefer: Mr. Jeffrey Sachs, President, Sustainable Development Solutions Network and Director, Center for Sustainable Development, Columbia University (via video teleconference)
• Briefer: Ms. Mercedes De Freitas, Founder and Executive Director, Transparencia Venezuela (via video-teleconference)
• Statements: All Council members, with Liberia speaking on behalf of: Democratic Republic of the Congo, Liberia, Somalia
• Statements: Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, Argentina, Chile, Brazil, Mexico, Paraguay, Cuba, Nicaragua, Trinidad and Tobago, Spain, South Africa
• Statement: Eritrea (on behalf of: Group of Friends in Defense of the Charter of the United Nations)
• Statement: Islamic Republic of Iran
• Statement: Uganda (on behalf of: Non-Aligned Movement)
• Further statement: Cuba

Related Sites and Documents

UN Meetings Coverage

S/PV.10085