SINN FÉIN has described the US attack on Venezuela, during which President Nicolás Maduro and his wife Cilia Flores were captured by US forces, as ‘nakedly a power grab to gain control of Venezuelan oil’.
In a press conference following the attack, US President Donald Trump said the operation was undertaken ‘to bring outlaw dictator Nicolás Maduro to justice’.
Trump said the Venezuelan leader and his wife had been indicted for a ‘campaign of deadly narco-terrorism against the United States and its citizens’.
The US president — who last month pardoned former Honduras president Juan Orlando Hernández following his 45-year sentence imposed in the US in 2024 for drug trafficking — also said America will run Venezuela ‘until such time as we can do a safe, proper and judicious transition’.
Talking about the future of Venezuela, which has the world’s largest oil reserves, Trump said US oil companies will ‘fix the badly broken infrastructure, the oil infrastructure, and start making money for the country’.
‘Terrorist state’
Donnchadh Ó Laoghaire, Sinn Féin spokesperson on Foreign Affairs, described the detention of President Maduro and his wife as ‘a sinister development that must be condemned outright’.
“It is not for Western countries to force regime change or to try to force a government out of office,” he added.
“The flaws of the Venezuelan Government are widely recognised and we share several concerns. But none of those concerns justify the attacks we have seen.
“These attacks are, quite clearly, motivated by commodities — this is nakedly a power grab to gain control of Venezuelan oil.
“The democratic process needs to be respected by external actors including the US and the Venezuelan government alike.
“This reckless intervention by the United States risks a major humanitarian fallout and significant regional instability.
“The Irish Government must speak out at the highest level at the European Union and United Nations.”
People Before Profit TD Paul Murphy said the operation was ‘a blatant imperialist attack by the US on Venezuela — the latest in a long history of US violence in Latin America’.
“The claimed kidnapping of President Maduro and his wife is a brazen violation of Venezuelan sovereignty and a war crime. The US is clearly a terrorist state,” he added.
“This is a violent grab for oil, natural resources and power. Venezuela has the world’s largest proven oil reserves and that is the central reason for this latest US attack.
“The US must stop its assault and must release President Maduro.
“The Irish Government must immediately and unequivocally condemn this blatant US violation of Venezuelan sovereignty and demand the release of President Maduro.”
Irish Government response
Ireland’s Foreign Affair Minister, Helen McEntee, said she had spoken with Kaja Kallas, EU High Representative for Foreign Policy, and will ‘remain in close contact with EU colleagues as the situation evolves’.
“Ireland, together with our EU partners, underlines the absolute necessity of full respect for international law and the principles of the UN Charter,” she added.
“While we have been clear that President Maduro does not have any democratic legitimacy, we have consistently called for a peaceful and negotiated transition in Venezuela and have supported all international efforts to that end.
“The Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade is monitoring the consular situation, in coordination with EU partners on the ground.”