Michael Waltz pushes back on U.N. criticism of Nicolás Maduro arrest

Michael Waltz, the U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations, is defending the arrest of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro as legal and warranted.

“Maduro is not just an indicted drug trafficker; he was an illegitimate so-called President. He was not a head of state,” Waltz said.

He discussed the matter in extensive remarks at an emergency meeting held by the United Nations, which immediately condemned the U.S. action in Venezuela.

“These developments constitute a dangerous precedent,” said Stéphane Dujarric, spokesman for the U.N. Secretary-General, in a statement Saturday. The comments came after a military strike and extraction of Maduro.

But Waltz, a former Florida Congressman, said it would be a grave error for the U.N. to rush to the defense of Maduro, especially after years of questioning the legitimacy of his hold on power.

“For years, Maduro and his cronies have manipulated Venezuela’s electoral system to maintain their illegitimate grip on power. In fact, just two years ago in 2024, a U.N. panel of experts report found that the election in that year was absolutely and completely a farce and fell well short of the most basic transparency integrity measures essential to upholding credible elections,” Waltz said.

The U.N. in 2024, after an international fact-finding mission, documented human rights violations and crimes committed by the Venezuelan government that undermined the national election.

“We should note that over 50 countries — many nations, including the European Union, including a number of Latin American countries in the region, and, of course, the United States — again, over 50 countries rejected the legitimacy of Maduro’s re-election following the disputed 2024 elections, and do not recognize him as Venezuela’s legitimately elected President,” Waltz said.

“Maduro unlawfully refused to peacefully cede power after the Venezuelan people voted him out of office in the 2024 election. So, therefore, Maduro was a fugitive from justice.”

Importantly, Waltz cast the arrest of Maduro as an enforcement of U.S. law.

“There is no war against Venezuela or its people. We are not occupying a country,” Waltz said. “This was a law enforcement operation in furtherance of lawful indictments that have existed for decades. The United States arrested a narco-trafficker who is now going to stand trial in the United States in accordance with the rule of law for the crimes he’s committed against our people for 15 years.”

That addressed international controversy following President Donald Trump’s comments that U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio and others in the American administration were “going to run” Venezuela for a period after Maduro’s removal. Rubio in a CBS interview this weekend said the U.S. “retains the optionality” of occupying Venezuela, but also said for the moment he is working with Venezuela interim President Delcy Rodriguez

Waltz said the arrest and military strike came only after diplomatic outreach failed.

“President Trump gave diplomacy a chance. He offered Maduro multiple off ramps. He tried to deescalate. Maduro refused to take them. President Trump made it clear that the narcoterrorism must stop, and yet it continued,” Waltz said.

“The United States will not waver in our actions to protect Americans from the scourge of narcoterrorism and seeks peace, liberty and justice for the great people of Venezuela.”