Voice of Venezuelans must take precedence: France calls for caution after Maduro's capture

Paris [France], January 4 (ANI): France's Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot on Saturday expressed a neutral stance regarding the US-led operation that captured Venezuela's President Nicolas Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, saying that the "voice of the Venezuelan people must take precedence".
Barrot said that while Maduro has undermined the rights and dignity of the Venezuelan people, any political solution must come from the Venezuelans themselves.
In a post on X, Barrot said, "By confiscating power from the Venezuelan people and depriving them of their fundamental freedoms, Nicolas Maduro has gravely undermined their dignity and their right to self-determination. France has consistently committed itself, particularly through its mediation efforts, to upholding the sovereignty of the Venezuelan people, whose voice must take precedence."
He added that the military operation violates the principle of non-resort to force that underpins international law and that lasting solutions cannot be imposed from outside the country.
"The military operation that led to the capture of Nicolas Maduro violates the principle of non-resort to force that underpins international law. France recalls that no lasting political solution can be imposed from the outside and that sovereign peoples alone decide their future," he added.

En confisquant le pouvoir au peuple vénézuélien, en le privant de ses libertés fondamentales, Nicolás Maduro a porté une atteinte grave à sa dignité et à son droit à l'auto-détermination. La France s'est engagée avec constance, notamment par ses actions de médiation, en faveur du…

— Jean-Noël Barrot (@jnbarrot) January 3, 2026

Barrot warned that violations of international law by powerful nations, including permanent members of the UN Security Council, could have serious consequences for global security.
"The repeated violations of this principle by nations entrusted with the primary responsibility as permanent members of the United Nations Security Council will have heavy consequences for world security, sparing no one. Informed by History, France is preparing for it, but cannot resign itself to it. It reiterates its attachment to the United Nations Charter, which must continue to guide the international action of States, always and everywhere," he said.
This statement comes after the United States captured Venezuela's incumbent President Nicolas Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, in a military operation, and they were flown out of the country.
Earlier, US President Donald Trump said that Maduro and his wife, who were captured in Caracas during a US military operation, have been indicted on charges of alleged "drug trafficking and narco-terrorism conspiracies" in the Southern District of New York, and will face trial.
According to an unsealed indictment shared by Attorney General Pamela Bondi on X, Maduro and Flores face multiple counts of statutory allegations related to "drug trafficking and narco-terrorism conspiracies".
The capture of Maduro comes amid rising tensions between the United States and Venezuela. (ANI)