Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch has defended the US military operation that deposed Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro, describing the raid as “morally right” despite legal and diplomatic complications.
Badenoch told BBC Radio 4’s Today program on Tuesday that she didn’t completely understand the legal foundation for the operation, but that Maduro was leading a “brutal regime,” and she was “glad he’s gone.”
“Where the legal certainty is not yet clear, morally, I do think it was the right thing to do,” she said, adding that her childhood in Nigeria under military dictatorships gave her insight into life under authoritarian rule. “I grew up under a military dictatorship, so I know what it’s like to have someone like Maduro in charge.”
However, Badenoch noted that the raid raised “serious questions about the rules-based order,” emphasizing that it was distinct from interventions in democratic countries. She referenced Greenland, stating that the territory’s destiny should be decided by Denmark and its people.
The UK government has thus far avoided publicly criticizing the US decision, referring to Maduro as an “illegitimate president.” Opposition parties, including Labour, the Liberal Democrats, the Green Party, and the Scottish National Party, have called on the government to denounce and deem the operation illegal.
Health Secretary Wes Streeting supported the government’s stance, claiming that the prime minister was acting in both the UK’s national interest and the “best interests of the people of Venezuela.”
Critics, including Labour MP Emily Thornberry, have warned that the raid may empower countries such as Russia and China and that the UK should explain its stance on international law.
Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper stated that she had reminded her US counterpart of his obligations under international law but that it was up to the US to provide legal rationale for its conduct.
