Trump breached international law with Venezuela operation, suggests Swinney
The South American country’s president Nicolas Maduro was arrested and taken to the US over the weekend.
Scotland’s First Minister has suggested the US military operation in Venezuela and the removal of its leader breached international law.
Speaking to SNP members in Glasgow on Monday, John Swinney said he was “deeply concerned” with the situation, which saw Nicolas Maduro and his wife taken to the US and appearing in a New York court.
Following the operation, which included strikes on military sites in Venezuela, US President Donald Trump said his administration would be “running” the South American country.
The First Minister also pushed for the international community to “ensure that de-escalation, diplomacy and democracy are the foundations of what follows”.
“I am deeply concerned at the situation which has unfolded in Venezuela,” the First Minister said.
“There is no doubt that the Maduro regime was an illegitimate and authoritarian regime.
“However, I am clear that all nations must abide by the international, rules-based system.
“Having listened carefully to what has been said by the United States administration in recent days, I cannot see how international law has been respected here.”
Appearing on LBC’s Tonight With Andrew Marr programme on Monday evening he also said the intervention has said a “very dangerous precedent”.
“I share the concerns that were expressed by the United Nations’ secretary-general over the weekend, that a very dangerous precedent has been created by the intervention by the United States in Venezuela,” he said.
“I think the moment and the necessity right now is for the international community to recognise the dangers that it faces because of the decline in adherence to the rules-based system (and) the need to reassert that rules-based system to protect the stability that we’ve all enjoyed in the post-World War period.”
The First Minister has cultivated a relationship with President Trump in the past 12 months, meeting numerous times in the hopes of reducing tariffs on Scotch whisky exports to the US.
Asked by journalists in Glasgow if he regretted that relationship, the First Minister said: “All I’ve done is try to pursue the interests of Scotland.
“The whisky industry is facing really difficult times just now, one of the contributing factors is the United States tariffs.”
He added: “When I hear that experience and evidence from a significant sector in the Scottish economy, I’ve got to act on it, which is what I’ve done to try to promote and protect the interests of Scotland in one of our key industries.”
Responding to criticism of his speaking out about the issues in Venezuela, Mr Swinney said he believed people would “expect to hear from the First Minister of Scotland” on such a “very, very serious set of circumstances”.
Mr Swinney later said the US intervention in Venezuela has set , Scotland’s First Minister has said.
