BERLIN (dpa-AFX) – The US military strike against Venezuela and the arrest of head of state Nicolás Maduro are causing different reactions in Germany. The foreign policy spokesman for the Union parliamentary group, Jürgen Hardt, told the editorial network Germany (RND) that the end of Maduro’s rule “would be a signal of hope for Venezuela, a large part of whose population fled abroad to escape Maduro’s regime.”
Left leader Jan van Aken, however, said: “Anyone who breaks international law like Trump and has presidents kidnapped is engaging in brutal state terrorism.” The USA caught Maduro and his wife during the attack and took them out of the country, as US President Donald Trump announced.
Green party leader Katharina Dröge called for a clear reaction from the federal government. The air strikes represented a breach of international law and a dangerous military escalation, she told RND. “We therefore expect the Federal Government to condemn this and to unequivocally advocate for de-escalation, compliance with international law and respect for state sovereignty with the USA.”
Greens warn against imitation effects
Dröge emphasized that Maduro’s policies were in no way acceptable. But US policy is also wrong: “Under Donald Trump, the US is pursuing an international policy that increasingly relies on the law of strength and disregards compliance with international law.” There is a danger that other countries will follow this example and the world will become more and more dangerous.
Hardt called on local foreign policy to exercise restraint, as Europe was less directly affected by the situation in Venezuela than by the situation in other regions of the world. Van Aken, on the other hand, demanded: “Anyone who sanctions Putin must also sanction Trump. The federal government should immediately condemn the US attack through the Security Council and the General Assembly of the United Nations.”/bw/DP/he