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A group of European countries underlined their support for Denmark today amid Donald Trump\u2019s renewed calls to take over Greenland after the removal of Venezuela\u2019s president Nicol\u00e1s Maduro<\/a>.<\/p>\n You can read the statement from the leaders of France, Germany, Italy, Poland, Spain, Britain, and Denmark, and catch up with the latest developments on Ukraine, in our Europe live blog<\/a>.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n Updated at\u00a007.46 EST<\/p>\n My colleagues Tom Phillips<\/a> and Sam Jones<\/a> have looked at the opposition\u2019s reaction to the US\u2019s operation in Venezuela and Donald Trump\u2019s apparent dismissal of the idea that the conservative activist Mar\u00eda Corina Machado could now lead Venezuela. Here is an extract from their story<\/a>:<\/p>\n \u201c[I felt] astonished, I could not believe what I was hearing,\u201d Ricardo Hausmann, a former minister and opposition supporter, said, capturing the opposition confusion and frustration that their movement\u2019s leader appeared to have been unexpectedly cast aside by the White House.<\/p>\n \u201cThe political strategy that Trump and Marco Rubio have laid out is truly bizarre,\u201d Hausmann added, warning that post-Maduro Venezuela found itself in \u201ca legal and a political vacuum\u201d and still under the control of \u201cillegitimate leaders\u201d led by Rodr\u00edguez, who was sworn in as interim president on Monday.<\/p>\n Mar\u00eda Corina Machado and Edmundo Gonz\u00e1lez address supporters in Caracas in July 2024. Photograph: Leonardo Fern\u00e1ndez Viloria\/Reuters<\/p>\n One US official told the New York Times: \u201c[Rodr\u00edguez is] certainly someone we think we can work at a much more professional level than we were able to do with [Maduro].\u201d<\/p>\n Machado, whose movement is widely believed to have beaten Maduro in Venezuela\u2019s 2024 presidential election, sought to put a brave face on the situation on Monday, hailing Trump\u2019s \u201ccourageous vision\u201d and offering to share her Nobel peace prize with him during an interview with Fox News.<\/p>\n \u201c[Maduro\u2019s removal] is a huge step for humanity,\u201d said Machado, who has not returned to Venezuela since sneaking out to travel to Oslo last month to receive the Nobel prize<\/a>.<\/p>\n But analysts said opposition leaders were bitterly disappointed by Trump\u2019s decision not to back Machado and Edmundo Gonz\u00e1lez, a former diplomat who ran in the 2024 election on Machado\u2019s behalf after she was banned and who is widely believed to have won by a landslide.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n Updated at\u00a007.33 EST<\/p>\n Free all the Venezuelan political prisoners, opposition demands<\/p>\n The Reuters news agency has a quick snap saying that Venezuelan opposition leader Mar\u00eda Corina Machado\u2019s movement has demanded the release of all political prisoners after the US\u2019s capture of Nicol\u00e1s Maduro.<\/p>\n \u201cThose who unjustly hold the civilian and military political prisoners should free them immediately,\u201d the Vente Venezuela movement said of political detainees, whom a leading local rights group puts at 863.<\/p>\n Machado\u2019s movement is widely believed to have beaten Nicolas Maduro in Venezuela\u2019s 2024 presidential election, which many countries, including the US, rejected the official result of.<\/p>\n Many people were imprisoned for protesting Maduro\u2019s declaration of victory or for participating in the opposition\u2019s electoral campaign.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n Updated at\u00a007.34 EST<\/p>\n Protesters have gathered outside the US embassy in Jakarta, Indonesia, to demonstrate against the US attack in Venezuela:<\/p>\n Activists hold posters during a protest against the US\u2019s attack on Venezuela outside the US embassy in Jakarta, Indonesia. Photograph: Willy Kurniawan\/ReutersActivists carrying posters and a Venezuelan flag attend the protest outside the US embassy in Jakarta. Photograph: Willy Kurniawan\/ReutersActivists step on a poster with the image of US President Donald Trump in Jakarta. Photograph: Willy Kurniawan\/ReutersShare<\/a><\/p>\n Updated at\u00a007.00 EST<\/p>\n If you would like to hear some reflections on Donald Trump\u2019s first year in power (this time around) you can join our upcoming event: Year One of Trumpism: Is Britain Emulating the US?<\/a><\/p>\n On Wednesday 21 January 2026, join Jonathan Freedland, Tania Branigan and Nick Lowles as they discuss the first year of Trump\u2019s second presidency. Book tickets here<\/a> or at guardian.live<\/a><\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n Updated at\u00a006.54 EST<\/p>\n US trial of Maduro undermines stability of international relations, China’s foreign ministry says Amy Hawkins is the Guardian\u2019s senior China correspondent<\/p>\n China\u2019s foreign ministry spokesperson said on Tuesday that the trial of Venezuelan leader Nicol\u00e1s Maduro<\/a> in New York \u201cseverely violat[ed] Venezuela\u2019s national sovereignty\u201d and undermined the stability of international relations.<\/p>\n The comments came the day after a China-backed emergency meeting at the UN Security Council<\/a> in which countries condemned the US\u2019s military operation to capture Maduro as illegal.<\/p>\n Venezuela is a key China ally in Latin America. The South American country has received over $100bn in Chinese loans and Maduro\u2019s last meeting was with a Chinese delegation visiting Caracas, who he greeted hours before<\/a> he was captured by US forces.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n Here is some more of the statement on Venezuela<\/a> from the spokesperson for the UN high commissioner for human rights:<\/p>\n The state of emergency declared by the Venezuelan authorities that took effect on Saturday raises concerns as it authorises restrictions on free movement of people, the seizure of property necessary for national defence, and the suspension of the right to assembly and to protest, among other measures.<\/p>\n The high commissioner calls on the US and the Venezuelan authorities, as well as the international community, to ensure full respect for international law, including human rights.<\/p>\n The future of Venezuela must be determined by the Venezuelan people alone, with full respect for their human rights, including the right to self-determination, and sovereignty over their lives and their resources.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n Updated at\u00a005.45 EST<\/p>\n It is ‘clear’ the US raid on Venezuela ‘undermined a fundamental principle of international law’, UN human rights office says<\/p>\n A spokesperson for the UN high commissioner for human rights, Volker T\u00fcrk, has said it is \u201cclear\u201d that the US military operation to capture Maduro and his wife over the weekend \u201cundermined a fundamental principle of international law\u201d.<\/p>\n In a statement, the spokesperson said T\u00fcrk, a career UN official and human rights lawyer, is \u201cdeeply worried\u201d about the \u201csituation in Venezuela\u201d, which has left many Venezuelans fearful as the country\u2019s acting president, Delcy Rodr\u00edguez, starts presiding under the apparent supervision of Washington, with Trump vowing to take control of Venezuela\u2019s oil industry with the help of America\u2019s biggest oil companies.<\/p>\n Here is more of the statement issued by the spokesperson for the UN high commissioner for human rights:<\/p>\n It is clear that the operation undermined a fundamental principle of international law \u2013 that states must not threaten or use force against the territorial integrity or political independence of any state.<\/p>\n The US has justified its intervention on the grounds of the Venezuelan government\u2019s longstanding and appalling human rights record, but accountability for human rights violations cannot be achieved by unilateral military intervention in violation of international law. The people of Venezuela deserve accountability through a fair, victim-centred process.<\/p>\n As has been clear in the UN Human Rights Office\u2019s consistent reporting on the continued deterioration of the situation in Venezuela for about a decade, the rights of the Venezuelan people have been violated for too long. We fear that the current instability and further militarisation in the country resulting from the US intervention will only make the situation worse.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n Updated at\u00a005.34 EST<\/p>\n Maduro\u2019s legal team includes acclaimed lawyer who represented Julian Assange Adam Gabbatt is a writer and presenter for Guardian US, based in New York<\/p>\n When Nicol\u00e1s Maduro<\/a> appeared in court in New York on Monday, his choice of lawyer quickly raised eyebrows.<\/p>\n The captured Venezuelan<\/a> president was accompanied by Barry Pollack, a top-tier US trial lawyer who spent years representing Julian Assange<\/a>, eventually securing the WikiLeaks founder\u2019s release from prison in the UK in 2024.<\/p>\n Pollack is a partner at Harris St Laurent & Wechsler, a law firm based on New York\u2019s Wall Street in the financial district of lower Manhattan, just a few minutes walk from the federal court where Maduro pleaded not guilty to criminal charges on Monday.<\/p>\n Lawyer Barry Pollack speaks in Canberra, Australia, on 26 June 2024. Photograph: Lisa Maree Williams\/Getty Images<\/p>\n Pollack will take on a case as Maduro\u2019s private counsel that could prove to be just as challenging as that of Assange. Maduro was charged on Monday with drug-terrorism conspiracy, cocaine-importation conspiracy, and possession of machine guns and destructive devices, with the US government labelling Maduro a \u201cnarco-terrorist\u201d and an \u201cillegitimate president\u201d. He faces up to life in prison.<\/p>\n Harris St Laurent & Wechsler did not respond to requests for comment about Pollack\u2019s involvement, but it is clear that in the legal world, he is highly regarded. According to Chambers USA<\/a>, Pollack is a \u201cthorough and deep-thinking lawyer\u201d who \u201clives, breathes and sleeps trials, and has such a natural way in front of juries\u201d.<\/p>\n You can read the full story here:<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n Among the international laws the US may have breached, if it provides no justification for the attacks, is the founding charter of the UN.<\/p>\n Article 2 of the UN charter says all members should refrain from \u201cthe threat or use of force against the territorial integrity or political independence of any state\u201d.<\/p>\n My colleague Geraldine McKelvie<\/a> spoke to leading experts in the field of international law to ask for their view on the US attack on Venezuela. Here is an extract from her story<\/a>:<\/p>\n The experts the Guardian spoke to agreed that the US is likely to have violated the terms of the UN charter, which was signed in October 1945 and designed to prevent another conflict on the scale of the second world war. A central provision of this agreement \u2013 known as article 2(4) \u2013 rules that states must refrain from using military force against other countries and must respect their sovereignty.<\/p>\n Geoffrey Robertson KC, a founding head of Doughty Street Chambers and a former president of the UN war crimes court in Sierra Leone, said the attack on Venezuela was contrary to article 2(4) of the charter. \u201cThe reality is that America is in breach of the United Nations charter,\u201d he added. \u201cIt has committed the crime of aggression, which the court at Nuremberg described as the supreme crime, it\u2019s the worst crime of all.\u201d<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n The UK\u2019s foreign secretary, Yvette Cooper, made a statement in the House of Commons on Monday about the US raid on Venezuela<\/a>.<\/p>\n Cooper told the Commons she had stressed the importance of international law in a conversation with the US secretary of state, Marco Rubio, but would not say whether she saw the US attack as illegal, saying it was for Washington to set out its justification.<\/p>\n A large section of her statement focused on the brutality of Nicol\u00e1s Maduro\u2019s dictatorship. \u201cWe have seen Maduro\u2019s regime systematically dismantle democratic institutions, silencing dissent and weaponizing state resources to maintain power through fear and corruption,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n Cooper added:<\/p>\n I discussed with Secretary Rubio what should happen next and our continued commitment to a transition to a peaceful and stable democracy.<\/p>\n Our collective immediate focus must be on avoiding any deterioration in Venezuela into further instability, criminality or violence. That would be deeply damaging for the people of Venezuela, our own overseas territories, our allies in the US and other regional partners.<\/p>\n The UK has long been clear that leadership of Venezuela must reflect the will of the Venezuelan people.<\/p>\n You can read her full statement on Venezuela here<\/a>.<\/p>\n Yvette Cooper said she reminded Marco Rubio of his duties under international law after US strikes on Venezuela. Photograph: House of Commons\/UK Parliament\/PAShare<\/a><\/p>\n Updated at\u00a004.09 EST<\/p>\n British PM choosing his ‘words carefully’ over response to US attack on Venezuela, health secretary says<\/p>\n In the UK, the health secretary Wes Streeting has defended Keir Starmer\u2019s cautious response to the US attack in Venezuela<\/a> despite MPs wanting the prime minister to condemn what is seen as an operation against a sovereign country in violation of international law.<\/p>\n![\"Amy](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/Amy_Hawkins.png\")
Amy Hawkins<\/p>\n![\"Adam](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/Adam-Gabbatt,-R.png\")
Adam Gabbatt<\/p>\n