"So you’re ok with him trotting around the world abducting presidents?"
Reform UK has defended Donald Trump’s attack on Venezuela and capture of its President, Nicolás Maduro.
The US government captured Maduro and the first lady Cilia Flores and flew them out of Venezuela on Saturday.
Reform deputy leader Richard Tice said that “it’s good news that a serious enemy of the West” has been removed and that he was “illegitimate”.
On Sky News, Tice claimed that Trump’s overthrow of the government was “clearly in accordance with US domestic law”.
He also cited article 51 of the United Nations charter, which “recognises the inherent right of individual or collective self-defense if an armed attack occurs against a UN Member”.
Presenter Trevor Phillips challenged Tice on this, stating: “It seems that this is sort of stretching that a little bit to the point where perhaps any country that the United States disapproves of could expect a visit from the Delta Force on the basis of what you’ve just said”.
Tice again argued that the US constitution allows the US President to act in the self-defense of US citizens.
“So you’re ok with him trotting around the world abducting presidents?,” Phillips asked.
The Reform MP said: “That is a matter for the US President.”
Phillips said it seemed that Tice was backing “a rather active foreign policy” in which the US is able to decide that “a particular leader isn’t really doing the job that the United States thinks it should do as opposed to what its own people say”.
Tice again repeated that Trump had acted to defend the interests of US citizens.
Phillips noted that Russian president Vladimir Putin would make the same argument about NATO’s advance to his borders.
Tice dismissed the comparison as “apples and pears” and “nonsense”, saying Putin wanted to invade the whole of Ukraine and “keep it”.
“President Trump has just said we’re going to run Venezuela until we decide we don’t want to,” Phillips said.
“Until a successful, peaceful transition,” Tice replied.
“And who is going to decide the transition is over?” Phillips asked.
Tice said the challenge was to prevent “chaos from descending into Venezuela”.
Trump initially framed Saturday’s attack on Caracas as an anti-drug operation, with officials calling Maduro and his wife “two indicted fugitives”.
He said the US would run Venezuela until “a safe and proper and judicious transition” was possible.
The US president later made clear that he planned to exploit Venezuela’s vast crude oil reserves, saying American oil companies would move into the country.
Experts have said Trump’s attacks on Venezuela were in breach of international law.
Elvira Domínguez-Redondo, a professor of international law at Kingston University, described the operation as a “crime of aggression and unlawful use of force against another country”.
Geoffrey Robertson KC, a founding head of Doughty Street Chambers, said the attack was against the United Nations charter.
Olivia Barber is a reporter at Left Foot Forward
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