The US military strike on Venezuela might yield “immediate” success for it but the world should be concerned about the fallout of the attack on the international order, says Senior Minister Lee Hsien Loong.
“The immediate consequences, maybe it works, and it's a spectacular military success. The longer term consequences on the international system, I think that is something which we have to worry about,” says Lee, who served as Singapore’s prime minister from 2004 to 2024.
“From the point of view of a small country, if that is the way the world works, we have a problem. To some extent, that has always been the way the world works. The US has done this many times over in different parts of the world. And other powers do it too. But you look at the situation, you look at the impact of it and you ask yourself, 'Is this a plus or a minus?' I don’t think this is a plus,” he adds.
Lee was speaking at the ISEAS-Yusof Ishak Institute’s annual regional outlook forum held at the Sands Expo & Convention Centre on Jan 8 when he was asked about Venezuela. His remarks comes just days after the US launched a military strike on Venezuela on Jan 3.
The sudden and swift attack ended with the capture of Venezuela’s President Nicolás Maduro as well as his wife. They are now in the US and face charges over drug trafficking. The US will run Venezuela until a “safe, proper and judicious” leadership transition can take place, says President Donald Trump.
“Now Venezuela is a complicated country,” Lee told forum attendees. “It’s got a very difficult internal situation. The legitimacy of the government is questioned. It’s causing difficulties to its neighbours, because of drugs, because of refugees.”
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“But that does not justify a military intervention by one country into another, unilaterally, and without any proper authorisation,” he adds.
The US military strike on Venezuela has drawn condemnation from China, whose foreign ministry expressed “grave concern” over the capture of Beijing-aligned Maduro.
“China calls on the U.S. to ensure the personal safety of President Nicolás Maduro and his wife, release them at once, stop toppling the government of Venezuela, and resolve issues through dialogue and negotiation,” says Lin Jian, a spokesperson for the Chinese foreign ministry in a Jan 5 media briefing.
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On Jan 6, Singapore’s former foreign minister George Yeo called the attack on Venezuela a reflection of the Trump’s ambition to dominate the Western hemisphere. Yeo was Singapore’s top diplomat from 2004 to 2011.
“The world is changing to a new configuration. The Americans, [or] at least Trump, wants to consolidate up North and Central America, and the northern part of South America,” says Yeo, who was speaking at the Oversea-Chinese Banking Corp (OCBC)’s annual premier private client investment seminar at the Ritz-Carlton Singapore.
“That’s what led him to change the name ‘Gulf of Mexico’ to ‘Gulf of America.’ That’s why he wants Greenland. That’s why he wants total control of the Panama Canal. If he can flip Venezuela, which he seems to have done, and Colombia then his objective would have largely been achieved.”
