The capture of Venezuelan president Nicolás Maduro by the United States signals a breaking point in the established world order. Does this mean that international law is now a thing of the past? A Geneva-based legal expert shares some insights. “It is a flagrant breach of international law,” says Vincent Chetail, a professor at the Geneva Graduate Institute, when asked about the capture of Venezuelan president Nicolás Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, by the US military on the night of January 2-3 in Caracas. “It is an act of armed aggression that violates the United Nations Charter and customary international law.” The UN Charter, the multilateral organisation’s founding document, prohibits the use of force except in the following three cases: if the state concerned requests it; if the UN Security Council authorises it; and in situations of self-defence. “Clearly, none of these apply here,” the international legal scholar says. US President Donald Trump is presenting the capture ...
