Cooper reminds US of international legal obligations in Venezuela

Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper has reminded her US counterpart Marco Rubio of his obligations under international law, she told MPs, following US military action in Venezuela.

US President Donald Trump’s launched an operation resulting in the capture of President Nicolás Maduro this weekend, leading to accusations the US had flouted international law.

Cooper’s statement to the House of Commons went further than Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer, who has so far avoided condemning Trump’s decision and focused instead on the brutality of Maduro’s dictatorship.

In a stormy debate, Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch said she was disappointed not to hear from the prime minister on the issue.

The government has been facing growing calls to speak out against Trump’s action, with Emily Thornberry, the Labour chair of the Commons Foreign Affairs committee, saying the UK should “be clearer that this has been a breach of international law”.

Security experts have warned the US action is destabilising to global politics and could embolden leaders in other countries, including Russian President Vladimir Putin, to ignore international agreements.

Wearing leg shackles, Maduro appeared in a New York City courtroom alongside his wife Cilia Flores for the first time on Monday to tell the packed rows of reporters and the public that he had just been “kidnapped”.

Making the first official government statement on the issue to Parliament, Cooper confirmed she had raised the issue of international law on a call with Trump’s lead on foreign affairs.

“In my discussions with Secretary Rubio, I raised the importance of complying with international law and we will continue to urge all partners to do so,” she said.

“It is, of course, for the US to set out the legal basis for their actions and the UN Security Council is discussing Venezuela this afternoon. These issues will continue to be matters for international discussion.”

Cooper added she had also spoken with Rubio about the role the UK could play in supporting a peaceful democratic transition that respected the will of the Venezuelan people.

Responding, Badenoch asked if the prime minister had spoken to Trump, saying: “I ask this because the government talks up its relationship with the US, but we keep finding we’re not in the room when big decisions are made”.

She said the Conservatives understood Trump’s actions and accused the government of being too distant from its “closest security partner”.

“We must work with them seriously, not snipe from the sidelines,” she said.

“We on this side of the House understand why the US has taken this action. As the foreign secretary said, UK policy has long been to press for a peaceful transition from authoritarian rule to a democracy. That never happened.

“Instead, Venezuelans have been living under Maduro’s brutal regime for many years. The US has made it clear it is acting in its national interest against drug smuggling and other criminal activity, including potential terrorism.”

The Conservative leader added she was concerned about the precedent set by Trump’s actions in Venezuela, and said the “rules-based order” should be protected.

However, Labour backbenchers and other opposition parties including the Liberal Democrats and the SNP continued to pile on pressure for the government to explicitly condemn Trump’s actions.

Dame Emily told the Commons Trump’s actions had created a “profound risk of international norms changing” if the government did not start “calling out” breaches of international law.

“It is for the West surely to stand up and say, call it as it is,” she said.

Cooper replied: “I have raised this issue of international law with Secretary of State Rubio and made clear that we will continue to urge all countries to follow it.”

Liberal Democrat leader Ed Davey said the UK government’s refusal to brand Donald Trump’s actions a “clear breach of international law” looked “ridiculous”, adding: “Maduro is a brutal, illegitimate dictator, but that does not give President Trump a free pass for illegal action.”

But Cooper demurred, insisting the focus should be on Venezuela’s “transition to democracy”.

Labour MP for Leeds East Richard Burgon labelled the attack on Venezuela “disgusting”, claiming the prime minister would not be acting in the same way if the military action had been taken by Putin.

He said: “Isn’t the reality that the prime minister is willing to ditch international law and sidestep the United Nations charter in order to appease Donald Trump, and doesn’t this cowardly, craven approach drag this country’s reputation through the dirt?”

Cooper later told MPs: “I really would warn members against making equivalence here around what Putin has done in Ukraine, where thousands of children have been kidnapped, where they have invaded a country led by a democratically elected president.

“We should be careful about recognising what we say and the implications of it.”

Allegations of the illegal deportation of children from Ukraine since Russia’s invasion nearly four years ago led to an international arrest warrant being issued for Putin. Ukraine has said more than 19,000 children were removed to Russia. Moscow maintains the children were evacuated from danger.

Although Cooper was at pains not to condemn Trump’s actions in Venezuela, she warned that Greenland’s future was a matter for Greenlanders and Danes, and no-one else, at the end of her statement.

Trump has once again raised the prospect the US could annex Greenland, claiming he needs the semi-autonomous Danish territory for reasons of national security.

Greenland’s Prime Minister Jens Frederik Nielsen has described the notion of US control over the island as a “fantasy”, and Denmark’s Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen has urged the US to “stop the threats” over the island.

In her statement on Venezuela, Cooper said: “Greenland is part of the Kingdom of Denmark.

“Our close European partners, our long-standing Nato allies and all our countries work closely together on security issues, and will always do so.

“The future of Greenland is a matter for the Greenlanders and Danes, and no-one else.”

Speaking in the debate, former Conservative foreign secretary Sir Jeremy Hunt warned that US attempts to take Greenland could result in the collapse of Nato (the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation) and accused European leaders of appearing “weak and divided”.

“Most people’s view of Maduro’s capture will be ‘good riddance’, and I would have liked the government to be more categorical in supporting US action in removing an illegitimate and evil dictator,” he told the Commons.

“But, if the new US approach extends to the annexation of Greenland, the sovereign territory of a Nato member, it could mean the end of the alliance with disastrous consequences.”

He asked what the Foreign Office was doing to prevent such “a disaster” and Cooper replied the government was “very firm” on the issue.