GENEVA - The Venezuelan government has formally demanded that the United States immediately release former President Nicolás Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, during an intervention before the United Nations Human Rights Council on Monday. The call came in the context of protests against their detention and broader claims of violations of Venezuela’s sovereignty.
In a speech delivered at the inauguration of the Human Rights Council session in Geneva, Venezuelan Foreign Minister Yvan Gil Pinto urged the U.S. to free Maduro and Flores, who were captured by U.S. military forces on 3 January in a raid in Caracas and are currently facing charges in the United States. Gil described their detention as “arbitrary” and said it occurred while Maduro was “in the full exercise of his functions,” a characterization sharply disputed by many governments and international observers.
The Venezuelan government also called for an end to all sanctions imposed by Washington and called for “general respect for the sovereignty of states,” framing these demands as matters of international law and human rights. Gil emphasized that Venezuela has opened a diplomatic channel to resolve differences with the United States “not from subordination, but from the conviction that dialogue between states is the only civilized path between nations.”
As part of its appeal, the Venezuelan delegation pointed to recent cooperation renewed with the United Nations Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, which Venezuela says will open technical spaces for dialogue with the body. Such cooperation was presented as evidence of the government’s willingness to engage constructively within international mechanisms.
The issue has drawn global attention and controversy. Maduro and Flores are in the United States facing drug trafficking and related charges following their capture in January, a military action that drew condemnation from some international law experts for potentially violating principles of sovereignty and the UN Charter.
The Venezuelan government’s demand at the United Nations reflects broader tensions over the legality of the U.S. operation, the future of Venezuelan leadership, and the international community’s role in addressing what Caracas calls “politicized” use of human rights rhetoric.