UN Experts Accuse US of Breaching Venezuela’s Sovereignty through Covert Operations

United Nations human rights experts on Tuesday accused the United States of violating Venezuela’s sovereignty and the UN Charter through covert military actions and threats of armed intervention in the Caribbean.

The condemnation came as US President Donald Trump intensified a military campaign he claims is designed to curb drug trafficking from Latin America into the United States.

“These actions also violate the fundamental international obligations not to intervene in the domestic affairs or threaten to use armed force against another country,”
— Joint statement by three independent UN rights experts

They described the US activities as “an extremely dangerous escalation” with serious implications for peace and security across the Caribbean region.

Since September, at least six vessels — mostly speedboats — have reportedly been targeted by US forces in the Caribbean. According to available data, 27 people have been killed, though Washington has not presented evidence proving those targeted were drug traffickers.

The UN experts warned that lethal force in international waters, without clear legal justification, breaches international maritime law and could constitute extrajudicial executions.

“Even if such allegations were substantiated, the use of lethal force in international waters without proper legal basis violates the international law of the sea and amounts to extrajudicial executions,”
— UN experts’ statement

The experts, who operate under the UN Human Rights Council’s mandate but do not speak on behalf of the UN itself, also dismissed Washington’s self-defence justification under international law.

They argued that the Venezuelan criminal network Tren de Aragua, which Trump has labelled a “terrorist organisation”, does not pose an imminent threat to the United States — a key criterion for invoking self-defence under the UN Charter.

“Preparations for covert or direct military action against another sovereign State constitute an even graver breach of the UN Charter,”
— Special Rapporteurs on Extrajudicial Executions and Counterterrorism

President Trump has acknowledged authorising covert CIA operations in Venezuela, though he has not disclosed details regarding their scope or objectives.

Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro has repeatedly accused Washington of plotting to overthrow him, describing the US actions as a “new form of imperial aggression.”

His foreign minister, Yván Gil, welcomed the UN experts’ findings, claiming they validate Venezuela’s longstanding complaints.

“The experts corroborate what we have denounced: the United States is manufacturing enemies to justify a supposed right to defence, which leads to massacres in the Caribbean Sea,”
— Yván Gil, Venezuelan Foreign Minister, via Telegram

The latest UN findings underscore growing international unease over the United States’ expanding military footprint in Latin America and the blurring of lines between counter-narcotics efforts and covert military action.

The experts warned that without international accountability, such operations risk destabilising regional peace, undermining international law, and setting a dangerous precedent for other powerful nations to follow.