Venezuela, Russia and China have urged the United States to release Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro and his wife Cilia Flores.
Following the US attack on the South American country over the weekend, the UN ambassadors of Venezuela, Russia and China criticized what they called the aggressive action of the US, which they classified as going against international law.
In a special session of the UN Security Council in New York on Monday, Russia and China strongly condemned the US attack on Venezuela at the weekend.
Russia described the US action as "a harbinger of a turn back to the era of lawlessness and US domination by force, chaos and lawlessness, which continues to afflict dozens of states in various regions of the world."
China said: "No country can act as the world's police, nor presume to be the international judge."
Both China and Russia are permanent members of the UN Security Council.
Russia criticized the United States for acting as a self-appointed global judge for economic and political motives and to display its power.
There was no justification for this, the country's UN spokeswoman asserted, adding that silence in the council would amount to an erosion of the international order.
The Chinese representative stressed that military means were not a solution to problems. The arbitrary use of force would only lead to a greater crisis.
Cuba, Iran, the Non-Aligned Movement and Colombia expressed similar views. They all considered the US action a clear violation of the UN Charter, in particular the prohibition of the use of force.
They consider Maduro to be Venezuela's legitimate president, label his arrest a "kidnapping" and argue that the immunity of incumbent heads of state has been violated.
They also warned of a dangerous precedent for the international order.
The United Kingdom, EU-aligned states, Panama and Chile declared that neither Maduro as president nor the US attack on Venezuela were legitimate. They unanimously called for a peaceful transition to a democratic system of government led by Venezuelan society.
The US called Maduro's arrest a surgical law-enforcement action against a narco-terrorist who was not the legitimate head of state.
Early Saturday, the US attacked targets in Venezuela, captured Maduro and his wife and took them out of the country. Initially they were reportedly headed to New York on a US battleship, but they were actually flown to the United States, where Maduro was taken to prison.
The couple face drug-related charges in New York. Maduro and Flores appeared in court on Monday and both entered a not-guilty plea.
The Venezuelan government in Caracas had requested the special session of the UN Security Council with the support of China and Russia.
The reason given was that the US attack which removed Maduro constituted a violation of the UN Charter and endangered peace in the region and throughout the world.
Russia, China, the US, France and the UK are the five permanent members of the UN Security Council. These countries can veto any resolution.
