World reacts to US strikes on Venezuela (Reuters)

[NJCher]

Last edited Sun Jan 4, 2026, 02:02 AM - Edit history (1)

January 3, 2026 12:28 PM EST
Updated 37 mins ago

snip

GERMAN FOREIGN MINISTRY
"We call on all involved parties to avoid an escalation of the situation and to seek ways for a political settlement," the ministry said. "International law has to be respected ... Venezuelans deserve a peaceful and democratic future."

CHINESE FOREIGN MINISTRY
"China is deeply shocked and strongly condemns the use of force by the U.S. against a sovereign country and the use of force against the president of a country," a ministry statement said.

FRENCH FOREIGN MINISTER
"The military operation that led to the capture of Nicolas Maduro violates the principle of not resorting to force, that underpins international law. France reiterates that no lasting political solution can be imposed from the outside and that only sovereign people themselves can decide their future," Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot wrote on X.

RUSSIA FOREIGN MINISTRY
"This morning, the United States committed an act of armed aggression against Venezuela. This is deeply concerning and condemnable."
"The pretexts used to justify such actions are unfounded. Ideological animosity has prevailed over business pragmatism and the willingness to build relationships based on trust and predictability."
"In the current situation, it is important, first and foremost, to prevent further escalation and to focus on finding a way out of the situation through dialogue."

snip

Reactions from a few dozen other countries at the link.

https://archive.ph/tkDen Is the no paywall link.

[markodochartaigh]

1. "International law has to be respected..."

Well that ship has sailed...and been blown out of the water.

[Dawson Leery]

2. k/r

[lame54]

3. Russia?

[yaesu]

4. Putin probably gave tRump the ok if he didn't interfere with his destruction of Ukraine. nt

[tavernier]

36. But wasn't Putin doing some business with Venezuela?

Two criminals trading favors and now Russia is pissed that the US has decided to get in on the deal. Isn’t that what ended Trump’s friendship with Epstein? Rump just can’t stand someone else taking advantage of something he wants.

[markodochartaigh]

40. That is basically what Lev Parnas said on his podcast

a few days ago.

[canetoad]

6. Hypocrites

It takes one to know one.

[alimbalt]

19. Russia needs ...

... to look in the mirror (if they even have any).

[NotHardly]

25. Yeah, Russia...LOL

[liberalla]

5. and of course from the Israeli Cheer Team:

ISRAELI PRIME MINISTER BENJAMIN NETANYAHU

"Congratulations, President @realDonaldTrump for your bold and historic leadership on behalf of freedom and justice. I salute your decisive resolve and the brilliant action of your brave soldiers."

[liberalla]

7. Just adding Canada and Mexico here...

MEXICAN MINISTRY OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS
"The Mexican government strongly condemns and rejects the military actions carried out unilaterally in recent hours by the armed forces of the United States of America against targets in the territory of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, in clear violation of Article 2 of the Charter of the United Nations."

CANADIAN FOREIGN MINISTER ANITA ANAND
"Canada calls on all parties to respect international law and we stand by the people of Venezuela and their desire to live in a peaceful and democratic society. Canada is engaging with its international partners and monitoring developments closely."


from the link posted in OP...

[Cha]

16. Thank you...

I like what Canada and Mexico had to say.

[Marcuse]

21. The US Department of War considers it a hostile act.

[EllieBC]

37. Canada never recognized Maduro

because Canada is smart enough to know that a dictator is a dictator no matter left or right.

[MorbidButterflyTat]

11. "And your shit tastes like heaven on a sunny spring morning!!"

"Vitamin fortified!"

Disgusting creep.

[hlthe2b]

12. Oh, rot in hell, Bibi.. Trump can't get you a pardon (unless your President bows to corruption

and threats--which I would hope he will not).

[meadowlander]

8. In unrelated news, I'm sure,

https://www.reuters.com/world/china/china-launches-live-firing-drills-around-taiwan-its-biggest-war-games-date-2025-12-30/

[MorbidButterflyTat]

9. Really, Russia?

Who the fuck do they think they're fooling?

[Hey Joe]

18. No shit

Russias statement could be used verbatim against their actions in Ukraine.
Transparent hypocrisy much?

[malaise]

10. Thanks

K & R

Add link
https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2026/1/3/world-reacts-to-reported-us-bombing-of-venezuela

[liberalla]

13. Excellent video from Heather Cox Richardson!

"This is a really, really, really REALLY BIG deal..."

Understanding the U.S. Strike on Venezuela | Explainer

31:19

She says the next 3 months are critical ...

(I'm re-listening right now to select key portions for highlighting... but the whole thing is well worth it)

[dickthegrouch]

17. Please make this an OP

[liberalla]

27. The whole video is important, providing a lot of information, and context for this moment we are in.

My excerpts below begin around 25:40:

When you look at this moment, this is a huge crisis for the United States of America, not just for Venezuela, and it is a huge crisis for the world because of the breakdown of that rules-based international order that has kept us from a war since World War II. Not, you know, we've had local wars, but we've not had a world war, a war in Europe, for example.

Um, and it is a direct attack on the US, another direct attack on the US Constitution. So, don't be fuzzy about what happened here. And this would be a great moment to speak up to your Congress people, especially your Republican Congress people.

The Democrats have already come out and said, "Excuse me, what are you doing here?" But they are not in the majority. And a lot of the Republicans started out, even the the the um the far right ones started out by saying, "Hey, You wait a wait a second here. This doesn't look legal.", and they're already starting to come around because generally wars make a president more popular and they don't want to buck Trump and say um uh, you know we're going to back Maduro on this because again Madora is a bad guy.

Um, call light up these freaking phones because I think if you've listened to me before, you've heard me say that we're facing a crisis. Um because Trump has gotten more and more and more and more cornered. And as I've been saying and wincing the next three months, which I said three days ago, are going to be hideous as he and his people try to to maintain control because it's coming down to the line here. Either they are going to grab control and turn the United States into a dictatorship, or the American people are going to take our system back and we're going to make it based in the law again and not in personalities and we're going to start to enforce the laws against corruption and we're going to enforce the constitution and with luck we're going to make this country and its rules and laws more responsive to everyday people. You can see that building.
...

This is the moment for the next, like I say, three months is the time I give it. I'm, I'm thinking we're going to have an answer by May as to what's going to happen to the Trump regime. But now is not the time to roll your eyes and say, "Ah, we always go into Latin America." The United States has a terrible history with Latin America going way going back to the 1840s at least. Um that's a rabbit hole someday that I well not even a rabbit hole. Someday I'll do a whole episode at least on that. But this is not that usual. This is an attempt to side with Russia to overturn the rules-based international order and align the United States with Russia rather than with Europe, rather than with democracies, rather than with the idea that countries should have their own right to sovereignty. And once we have given that up, we have not only given up the sovereignty of all nations because all it takes is somebody with more muscle to come take you over. We will also have given up a significant portion of the American Constitution and given the president the ability to take the US military and do whatever he wants with it without oversight by Congress.
...

On that note, please speak up. Uh this is, this is it. Um, and it's going to get worse. I you know, I've maintained this all along. It's going to get worse. But the vast majority of Americans want the Constitution. They want rules. They want laws that apply equally to everybody. They want to be treated equally before the law. They want to have a right to a say in their government. And they want to have equal access to resources. And my friends, that is not a radical position. That is the same position that FDR had in the 1930s. It is the same position that Teddy Roosevelt, a Republican, had at the turn of the last century. It is the same position that Abraham Lincoln, took in the 1860s. That's what it means to be an American. And this is our moment to try and protect that for the 21st century.
...

That's what's at stake in the US strikes on Venezuela.

US Congress phone [phone]

[NJCher]

41. I watched it

It is invaluable in explaining how wrong this is and how serious it is.

The U.S. HAS to get this stopped.

[TheRickles]

14. We're certainly helping to bring about world unity, which is supposedly a good thing.

Now it's the US and Israel against the rest of the world, and once Trump and Bibi fall, maybe there will be some hope for humanity.

[ancianita]

15. Here's the non-paywall link

https://archive.ph/tkDen

[NJCher]

42. Thanks

I added to the OP.

[BadgerMom]

20. I've not seen the Democratic response.

Have I simply missed it?

[Cosmocat]

22. Only this asshole

Could put Russia in the position of having moral superiority over the US.

[BlueWaveNeverEnd]

23. Kick

[Sympthsical]

24. The West is already doing what I figured it would

"Oh no, force shouldn't be used, that's no good . . . . Sooooo anyway, Venezuela should have democratic elections now. That would be neat."

I thought they'd let a few days go by to marinate on that one, but they're already shifting in that direction. There's going to be a lot of noise, but the West isn't going to be super sad about this if elections are held.

We're going to be sad if this turns into a clusterfuck. Which, if someone doesn't shut Trump up soon, becomes likelier and likelier. The more he talks, the worse it gets.

[AloeVera]

26. They didn't do sh** about the Gaza genocide either.

They need to shut up about respecting international law. They all helped to break it. It's now a downhill slide towards gangsterism, resource-theft and lawlessness. All in the name of freedom and democracy of course. Ha.

[W_HAMILTON]

29. The fuck else are they supposed to call for, if not democratic elections?

Venezuela's leader has been captured. There is no going back at this point, so why are you upset people are calling for democratic elections?

[Sympthsical]

31. Did I say I was upset?

The point has clearly sailed off yonder over the horizon. But let's allow the earth to rotate a bit to catch up.

All right, there we are.

The point is that they're going to make condemnatory noises, but they're not really that upset about it when all is said and done.

[MorbidButterflyTat]

32. Jeez, was that heavy snark really necessary?

[Sympthsical]

34. It was a response to an attack

Shoving words into my mouth that never existed as a form of bad faith argument.

That method of "debate" from that quarter got old long, long ago.

Pleasantness is a commodity to be returned in kind.

[W_HAMILTON]

33. Calling for Democratic elections is not indicative of whether or not someone supports the attack.

I would hope you support democratic elections -- you do, right?

Right...?

[Sympthsical]

35. I don't know if I should even respond

Because there seems to be an invisible third party in the room who is being argued with.

[W_HAMILTON]

44. Yes, it is you insinuating that common sense calls for democratic elections mean something more nefarious.

Again I ask: do you or do you not support democratic elections in Venezuela at this point?

It's not like the Trump administration is going to return their leader, so what other option is there?

[Sympthsical]

45. Ok, I'm going to make my point as simply as possible

I don't think many Western powers are that bothered by what Trump did - that their condemnations are mostly performative - and that as long as democratic elections result from all this, they don't care that much.

That's it. That was the entire conversation.

Nowhere - not even out of thin air - did I say I would be upset if Venezuela had democratic elections. I think democratic elections would be the best case scenario to be hoped for given the current situation.

I get that putting people on the defensive out of the gate is a tactic. But it was unwarranted and out of bounds here. Commenting on the sincerity of the PR releases of various nations and then coming in with, "dOn't YoU wAnT deMocRacy?!" is an argument Trump supporters are making all over the internet right now.

Why that tactic had to be brought here is totally beyond me.

[W_HAMILTON]

46. You were the one that took the contrarian position by making it sounds like calling for democratic elections was bad.

As for what leaders around the world really think, that's just your opinion.

Very few have voiced support for this. And what their personal underlying opinions are - which neither you nor I know -- means little because in matters such as these, it is the official position their government takes that ultimately matters.

[WarGamer]

28. Odd edits... Macron and Merz were ecstatic.

[W_HAMILTON]

30. Were you?

[WarGamer]

38. I don't think any normal person supports dictators... right?

[W_HAMILTON]

43. These were your words back when Biden was president:

I'm anti-war consistently. Putin's illegal war is just as bad as Shrub's illegal war. Vietnam was wrong, fuck LBJ and neocons are the worst thing to happen to this country in 100 years...

Hussein was a terrible dictator as well, yet you called his removal an "illegal war" -- was that you supporting a dictator?

And just make it clear to us: are you supporting Trump's actions in Venezuela or are you "anti-war consistently?" Because the two are not compatible.

[WarGamer]

47. One can oppose the ACTION without defending Maduro...

If I had to draw a recent parallel... this resembles Libya in 2011 more than Iraq or Vietnam.

[W_HAMILTON]

48. Who has defended Maduro?

And were you for action in Libya back then or "anti-war consistently?"

[WarGamer]

49. very much against "we came we saw he died"

Ghadaffi was meaningless at that point... and his elimination just empowered ISIS... dumb.

[W_HAMILTON]

50. Big surprise you were against Hillary and the military actions that Obama took.

Now, back to the original point: do you support what TRUMP did? If not, when can we expect you to speak out against him the same way you are a decade-old quote from Hillary, hmm?

[WarGamer]

51. Hell NO I don't support the Maduro nonsense.

You might not remember but Obama himself called the period after the Libya intervention the greatest regret and mistake of his 8 years. It helped ISIS... not good.

Ghadaffi and his forces were quite literally at war with ISIS and other Islamic Extremist groups in 2011.

Kinda like how getting rid of Mubarak gave us the Islamic Brotherhood and protestors being thrown from rooftops...

The US just needs to mind it's own fucking business.

[W_HAMILTON]

52. You managed to spend 90%+ of your post talking about Obama and others.

Trump is president.

Trump is responsible for invading Venezuela.

If you really are "anti-war consistently" and against Trump and what's he done, now would be the time to show it and speak out against it.

[Polybius]

39. Any list of countries that came out in support of it?

I'm curious. Perhaps Argentina, Hungary, El Salvador, etc. Who else? Maybe Italy?