Venezuela asks UN Security Council to say US strikes illegal

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By Michelle Nichols

UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) -Venezuela has asked the United Nations Security Council to determine that deadly U.S. strikes on vessels off its coast are illegal and issue a statement backing Venezuela’s sovereignty, according to a letter seen by Reuters on Thursday.

U.S. President Donald Trump has ordered a large U.S. military buildup in the southern Caribbean, and the troops have conducted at least five strikes on vessels the Trump administration has described as involved in drug trafficking, without providing evidence.

In a letter to the 15-member Security Council, dated Wednesday, Venezuela’s U.N. Ambassador Samuel Moncada accused Washington of killing at least 27 people in the strikes on “civilian vessels transiting international waters.”

He asked the council to “investigate” the strikes to “determine their illegal nature” and issue a statement “reaffirming the principle of unrestricted respect for the sovereignty, political independence, and territorial integrity of states,” including Venezuela.

In Caracas, Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro said that while the CIA has long been linked to coups around the world, no previous government had publicly stated it ordered the CIA to “kill, overthrow, and destroy countries.”

Maduro accused the CIA of being authorized to conduct operations aimed against the peace of Venezuela.

“But our people are clear, united, and aware. They have the means to once again defeat this open conspiracy against the peace and stability of Venezuela,” the president said during an event broadcast on state television.

US HOLDS VETO POWER

However, the Security Council will be unable to take any action beyond holding meetings on the situation because the United States holds veto power. The council met for the first time last week over the tensions at the request of Venezuela, Russia, and China.

At that meeting, the United States justified its actions as consistent with Article 51 of the founding U.N. Charter, which requires the Security Council to be immediately informed of any action states take in self-defense against armed attack.

U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. Mike Waltz said on Thursday Trump would use the intelligence community, the defense department, and diplomacy “to defend U.S. sovereignty against actions that are actively killing Americans.”

“Venezuela can bring whatever they want to the U.N. You know what’s also part of the U.N. is Article 51 of the U.N. Charter that enables a country to defend itself. And that’s what President Trump’s doing and is going to do,” he told Fox News.

(Reporting by Michelle Nichols, Additional reporting Reuters bureau, Editing by Rod Nickel and Diane Craft)