Flag of the United Nations. Photo: UN News.
“The United States’ covert actions and threats to use armed force against the Venezuelan government violate Venezuela’s sovereignty and the United Nations Charter,” independent UN experts stated Tuesday, Oct. 21.
In a joint statement, George Katrougalos, expert on the promotion of a democratic international order, and UN special rapporteurs Ben Saul (on counterterrorism) and Morris Tidball-Binz (on extrajudicial executions) declared: “The long history of external interventions in Latin America must not be repeated.”
In August, the US began a military deployment in the southern Caribbean, ostensibly to combat drug cartels. That month, US Attorney General Pam Bondi also doubled the reward for information leading to the arrest of President Nicolás Maduro—on the never-substantiated charge of leading a “drug cartel.”
Following the military deployment, the US has carried out seven attacks against vessels in the Caribbean, killing 29 people, according to its own government officials. These actions have been denounced by multiple governments and international bodies, which describe them as extrajudicial executions.
Venezuela, the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (CELAC), the Bolivarian Alliance for the Peoples of Our America–People’s Trade Treaty (ALBA-TCP), and regional leaders have condemned US threats against the Caribbean.
On Friday, Oct. 10, Venezuela petitioned the United Nations Security Council to prevent an international crime.
“This is the moment to avoid a war against Venezuela,” warned Samuel Moncada, Venezuela’s permanent representative to the UN. “If Venezuela didn’t have oil, the military threat that is about to materialize would not exist. The plan is clear. It’s about executing, once again, the operation that already failed: to overthrow the legitimate and constitutional president of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, Nicolás Maduro Moros, with the aim of installing a puppet regime and turning our country into a colony.”
Experts Morris Tidball-Binz, @gkatr and @profbensaul:
“Covert action and US threats of using armed force against the Government of #Venezuela violate Venezuela’s sovereignty and the UN Charter.
The long history of external interventions in Latin America must not be repeated.” pic.twitter.com/8K2HYNIqI7
— United Nations Geneva (@UNGeneva) October 21, 2025
Who are the rapporteurs who condemn the US?
A doctor with expertise in documenting extrajudicial executions
“Mr. Morris Tidball-Binz (Viña del Mar, Chile, 1957) is a physician specializing in forensic science, human rights and humanitarian action. He has contributed to the development and worldwide use of forensic science to investigate and document extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions, enforced disappearances, torture and conditions of detention, as well as to humanitarian action in armed conflicts and natural disasters,” the UN states on its website.
The portal adds that over the past 35 years, the doctor has conducted research, technical evaluations and capacity-building missions in more than 70 countries across all regions.
A Greek with experience in human rights defense
Professor of public law, vice president of the International Association of Constitutional Law and former minister of foreign affairs of Greece (2019) are some of the responsibilities that George Katrougalos has held.
He was a member of the European Parliament (2014–2015), a member of the Greek Parliament (2015–2023), president of the Subcommittee on the Middle East and the Arab World of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (2020–2022), minister of state for European affairs (2016–2018), minister of labor and social solidarity (2015–2016) and minister of state for administrative reforms of Greece (2015), according to his biography on X.
He has worked as an international expert on human rights and institutional development in Albania, Uzbekistan, Armenia, Syria and North Macedonia, and served as legal adviser to the Greek Mission to the United Nations for Human Rights Affairs.
An Australian professor
Professor Ben Saul holds the Challis Chair of International Law at the University of Sydney and is the United Nations special rapporteur on the promotion and protection of human rights and fundamental freedoms while countering terrorism. His profile appears on the university’s website.
The site also describes Saul as an elected fellow of the Australian Academy of Social Sciences. “He was the Gough Whitlam and Malcolm Fraser Visiting Professor of Australian Studies at Harvard University in 2019, and was an associate fellow at Chatham House (Royal Institute of International Affairs) in London and the International Centre for Counter-Terrorism in The Hague.”
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Venezuela highlights expert statement
Venezuelan Foreign Minister Yván Gil addressed the statement issued by UN experts, highlighting its relevance.
“In their document, they warn about the use of lethal force in international waters without legal justification, as well as preparations for possible covert or direct military action against Venezuela, which constitutes a violation of the UN Charter,” the Venezuelan diplomat wrote. “The experts corroborate what we have been reporting: the United States fabricates enemies to justify a supposed right to defense, resulting in massacres in the Caribbean Sea.
He also noted the document emphasizes that “the long history of external interventions in Latin America must not be repeated.”
“The Bolivarian government, on behalf of President Nicolás Maduro, reiterates its call for dialogue and respect for Venezuela’s sovereignty and territorial integrity,” Minister Gil concluded.
(Diario VEA) by Yuleidys Hernández Toledo, with Orinoco Tribune content
Translation: Orinoco Tribune
OT/JB/SH
