Australian Treasurer Jim Chalmers says America to ‘make clear the legal basis’ of their action on Venezuela

Treasurer Jim Chalmers has reiterated Australia’s support for international law after the US bombed Venezuela and captured its president, adding it would be for America to “make clear the legal basis” of their action.

US special forces took Nicolás Maduro and his wife Cilia Flores into custody during an audacious raid on Saturday local time, flying the pair to New York to face federal narco-terrorism charges.

Speaking to reporters aboard Air Force One on Monday, US President Donald Trump also threatened Colombia, Cuba and Iran.

Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese is among numerous world leaders responding to the unprecedented US raids, urging “all parties to support dialogue and diplomacy” in a statement.

Dr Chalmers said on Monday that Australia would continue to monitor the situation and had a role to play to ensure the situation didn’t spiral.

“We are supporters of international law, and it’s for the Americans to make clear the legal basis of the steps taken over the weekend,” Dr Chalmers said.

“Our position is to encourage the relevant parties now to engage in dialog and diplomacy and to ensure that there’s not an escalation.

“We’ve received an initial briefing from our own agencies about developments there. Obviously, those developments are fast moving, and like everyone around the world, we’ll be monitoring the situation in Venezuela very closely.”

It comes as member-nations of the United Nations Security Council held a meeting to discuss the military action, with many calling for a peaceful transition in Venezuela.

Several leaders, including in the UK, Germany, France, Canada and South Africa have called for international law to be upheld.

Labor Minister Tim Ayres stressed the importance of international law and said the Albanese government was focused on “establishing the facts” and “gathering evidence” about the action.

“Of course, following international law is absolutely important. It’s for the United States to make out the argument here and to set out the facts,” Mr Ayres told ABC radio.

“This is very early in this series of events, of course, and we are, as a government, working carefully to establish the facts.”

Opposition leader Sussan Ley said the removal of Maduro was a “good thing”, labelling him as an “illegitimate president” who reigned amid “human rights abuses” and “crushing of freedom and democracy” in the country.

“The Coalition’s position has always been for a transition to democracy in Venezuela, and dictators and despots should always face justice,” she told a Canberra press conference.

Nationals leader David Littleproud and his deputy Kevin Hogan questioned the future leadership of the South American nation.

“This should be more than about oil or drugs. This should be about returning the country of Venezuela back to its people. And I think that’s the clear pathway that the Trump administration will need to be able to articulate,” Mr Littleproud told Sunrise.

“I think there’s been universal applause for Maduro to be gone. But I think it’s important that we see that the country is returned to Venezuelan people as soon as possible, in the most orderly way.”

Mr Hogan said he “understood why they have done that” when asked on ABC radio if he was concerned about the extraction of the ousted leader.

He said Maduro would likely be “good news for Venezuelan people” but admitted the approach taken by the US would draw questions.

“Their way may well be questioned moving forward. But he was not a good person. Not universally, but a lot of leaders around the world have said this is great news. But yes, there are now many questions that have to be answered.”

Foreign Minister Penny Wong echoed the PM’s call for “dialogue and diplomacy”, adding that Australia was “engaging with international partners” as they monitored developments.

“We continue to support international law and a peaceful, democratic transition in Venezuela that reflects the will of the Venezuelan people,” she said.

Dr Chalmers said Australian authorities were working to ensure citizens in the country were safe and urged them to keep updated with official advice.

“The Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade is working very hard to establish which, if any, Australians have been impacted by the events in Venezuela over the weekend,” he said.

“The advice for Venezuela has been ‘do not travel’ for some time, but there’s more information on the DFAT website. For any Australians who are caught up there, the advice is to shelter in place.”