Tensions sparked in the Western Hemisphere after the United States hit Venezuela with a “large-scale strike” on Saturday and said President Nicolás Maduro and his wife were captured and flown out of the country.
The attack was condemned by Venezuela's allies and left-wing governments across Latin America, while the EU and UK said that international law must be respected.
At a pro-Maduro protest in Caracas, Mayor Carmen Meléndez joined a crowd that demanded that Maduro be returned immediately.
“Maduro, hold on, the people are rising up!” the crowd chanted. They also said: “We are here Nicolás Maduro. If you can hear us, we are here!” Elsewhere, residents were still taking in the events.
“How do I feel? Scared, like everyone,” said Caracas resident Noris Prada, who sat on an empty avenue looking down at his phone.
“Venezuelans woke up scared, many families couldn’t sleep. I have been on the street, I just got back from Maracay, everything is blocked, everything is bad, very bad.”
“They impose the law,” electrician Alfonso Valdez said about the US government. “They are the police of the world … they are assassins.”
However, Venezuelan opposition leader Maria Corina Machado’s spokespeople declined to comment on the US operation.
Machado was last seen in public last month, when she emerged from 11 months in hiding and traveled to Norway, where she was honored with the Nobel Peace Prize.
Reacting to the attacks, Mexico's left-wing government condemned the US strikes saying any form of military action "seriously jeopardizes regional stability."
In a statement released by the foreign ministry, the southern neighbour of the US said that they "strongly condemns and rejects the military actions carried out unilaterally in recent hours by the armed forces of the United States of America against targets on the territory of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela”.
Echoing similar criticism, Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva also slammed the attacks as a "serious affront" to the country's sovereignty.
"The bombings in Venezuelan territory and the capture of its president cross an unacceptable line" the left-wing Lula wrote on X, saying they threaten "the preservation of the region as a zone of peace."
He urged the international community, through the United Nations, to "respond vigorously" to the attacks.
Amid rising tensions, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer said that all the countries should "uphold international law”.
Calling the situation "fast-moving", Starmer added that "the UK was not involved in any way in this operation" as he urged patience in order to "establish the facts".
"I want to speak to President Trump, I want to speak to allies," the British leader said in brief comments aired on UK television hours after the US attack.
"I can be absolutely clear that we were not involved in that. And as you know, I always say and believe we should all uphold international law."
Starmer added that "hopefully more information will come out" about the situation when Trump holds a press conference later Saturday.
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said that he was "deeply alarmed" after Washington's strikes on Venezuela, his spokesman said Saturday, saying it could "constitute a dangerous precedent."
The UN chief is "deeply concerned that the rules of international law have not been respected," spokesman Stephane Dujarric said in a statement, adding that Guterres "calls on all actors in Venezuela to engage in inclusive dialogue, in full respect of human rights and the rule of law."
The EU also called for "restraint" and respect for international law in Venezuela following the attack.
"The EU has repeatedly stated that Mr Maduro lacks legitimacy and has defended a peaceful transition" in Venezuela, the bloc's top diplomat Kaja Kallas wrote on X after speaking with her US counterpart Marco Rubio.
"Under all circumstances, the principles of international law and the UN Charter must be respected. We call for restraint," she wrote.
Kallas said the EU was closely monitoring the fast-moving situation and that she had spoken to the bloc's envoy to Venezuela, with the safety of EU citizens "our top priority."
Neither the UK, nor the EU had recognised the results of the disputed 2024 election that handed Maduro a third term in power, and has called for a "peaceful, negotiated transition" of power there.
Russia condemned the attack and demanded "immediate" clarification about the circumstances of the reported US abduction of Maduro.
"We are extremely alarmed by reports that Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro and his wife were forcibly removed from the country as a result of today's US aggression. We call for an immediate clarification of the situation," the Russian foreign ministry said in a statement.
China also opposed the strikes, calling it a violation of international law.
"China is deeply shocked and strongly condemns the US's blatant use of force against a sovereign state and its action against its president," Beijing's foreign ministry said in a statement.
"Such hegemonic behaviour by the US seriously violates international law, infringes upon Venezuela's sovereignty, and threatens peace and security in Latin America and the Caribbean. China firmly opposes it," it added.
France also condemned the American operation, saying it undermined international law while no solution to the country's crisis can be imposed from the outside.
Maduro "gravely violated" the rights of Venezuelans, but the military operation that led to him being grabbed "contravenes the principle of non-use of force, which underpins international law", Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot wrote on X.
"No lasting political solution can be imposed from the outside", he said, warning that "the increasing violations" of this principle by permanent UN Security Council members "will have serious consequences for global security, sparing no one".
Other close allies of Caracas also condemned the attack.
Iran, which has close links with oil-rich Venezuela, said it "strongly condemns the US military attack on Venezuela and a flagrant violation of the country's national sovereignty and territorial integrity".
Meanwhile, Colombian President Gustavo Petro called it an "assault on the sovereignty" of Latin America which would lead to a humanitarian crisis.
Colombia is a non-permanent member of the UN Security Council this year and leftist leader Petro called for the body to meet "immediately."
Cuba, a traditional regional ally, denounced what it called "state terrorism against the brave Venezuelan people" according to a statement by President Miguel Diaz-Canel, who urged a "response from the international community" following a "criminal attack" on Caracas.
Meanwhile Spain called for de-escalation and restraining, offering to mediate in the crisis in an attempt to broker a negotiated and peaceful solution.
"Spain calls for de-escalation and restraint," the foreign ministry said in a statement, adding it was "ready to help in the search for a democratic, negotiated, and peaceful solution for the country,"
Germany said that they are closely monitoring the situation and is in contact with officials in Venezuela
South Africa, which Trump accuses of alleged discrimination -- and even "genocide" -- of minority white Afrikaners, said, "Unlawful, unilateral force of this nature undermines the stability of the international order and the principle of equality among nations."
Former Bolivian president Evo Morales, a close Caracas ally, said on X he "forcefully rejected" the US "bombardment."
Meanwhile, Venezuela demanded an emergency meeting of the UN Security Council to discuss the US attacks on the country, amid uncertainty over the whereabouts of President Nicolas Maduro.
"Faced with the criminal aggression committed by the US government against our homeland, we have requested an urgent meeting of the United Nations Security Council, which is responsible for upholding international law," Venezuelan Foreign Minister Yvan Gil wrote on the Telegram messaging platform.
They also demanded that the US provide 'proof of life' of Maduro
Venezuelan Vice President Delcy Rodriguez demanded that the US issue "proof of life" of Maduro who was captured by US forces.
Speaking by telephone to Venezuelan TV Rodriguez said she did not know the whereabouts of Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, following a series of US strikes on Caracas and other cities.
Meanwhile, some countries also supported the US attacks.
In a rare expression of support for the US operation by a major European country, far-right Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni - a Trump ally - argued the US military action in Venezuela was "legitimate" and "defensive".
Israel also hailed the operation, saying Washington acted as the "leader of the free world".
Ukraine - dependent on US support in its war against invading Russia - did not address the legality of a big country like America using military force against a much smaller one like Venezuela.
Foreign minister Andriy Sybiga instead focused on Maduro's lack of legitimacy and the Venezuelan government's repression, while backing "democracy, human rights, and the interests of Venezuelans".
Meanwhile, Trump also received criticism from Democrats.
US senator Brian Schatz, a Democrat, said on X: "We have no vital national interests in Venezuela to justify war. We should have learned not to stumble into another stupid adventure by now."
“This war is illegal, it’s embarrassing that we went from the world cop to the world bully in less than one year. There is no reason for us to be at war with Venezuela,” Fellow Democrat senator Ruben Gallego said on X.
Following the rising tensions in the region, China told its citizens in Venezuela on Saturday to avoid going out "unless absolutely necessary", state media reported.
"The Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Chinese Embassy in Venezuela remind Chinese citizens to refrain from travelling to Venezuela in the near future," state broadcaster CCTV reported.
"Chinese nationals and institutions already in the country should closely monitor the local security situation, effectively strengthen safety precautions and emergency preparedness, avoid going out unless absolutely necessary, and stay well away from conflict zones or sensitive areas."
UK PM Starmer also said that his government's focus was on supporting around 500 British nationals thought to be in Venezuela.
"We're working with the (British) embassy to make sure that they are well looked after, safeguarded and get appropriate advice," he added.
The Foreign Office in London on Saturday updated its advice to urge against all travel to Venezuela.
In South Florida, Venezuelans celebrated the news of Maduro’s capture at a rally held outside a South American eatery.
People wrapped themselves in Venezuelan flags, ate fried snacks and cheered as music was playing at the event. At one point, the crowd chanted “Liberty! Liberty! Liberty!”
The rally took place in Doral, Florida, a city of 80,000 people surrounded by Miami sprawl and home to the largest Venezuelan community in the United States.
US Vice President JD Vance said that Venezuela ignored offers to reach a settlement, adding that captured leader Nicolas Maduro was the "newest person to find out that President Trump means what he says."
"The president offered multiple off ramps, but was very clear throughout this process: the drug trafficking must stop, and the stolen oil must be returned to the United States," Vance said in a post on X.
Vance also doubled down on the US justification that Maduro was a fugitive from US law, saying: "You don't get to avoid justice for drug trafficking in the United States because you live in a palace in Caracas."
The US military, in recent days, has been targeting alleged drug-smuggling boats. On Friday, Venezuela said it was open to negotiating an agreement with the US to combat drug trafficking.
Maduro also said in a pretaped interview aired Thursday that the US wants to force a government change in Venezuela and gain access to its vast oil reserves through the months-long pressure campaign that began with a massive military deployment to the Caribbean Sea in August.
Maduro has been charged with narco-terrorism in the US. The CIA was behind a drone strike last week at a docking area believed to have been used by Venezuelan drug cartels in what was the first known direct operation on Venezuelan soil since the US began strikes on boats in September.
Trump for months had threatened that he could soon order strikes on targets on Venezuelan land. The US has also seized sanctioned oil tankers off the coast of Venezuela, and Trump ordered a blockade of others in a move that seemed designed to put a tighter chokehold on the South American country’s economy.
The US military has been attacking boats in the Caribbean Sea and the eastern Pacific Ocean since early September. As of Friday, the number of known boat strikes is 35 and the number of people killed is at least 115, according to numbers announced by the Trump administration.
They followed a major buildup of American forces in the waters off South America, including the arrival in November of the nation’s most advanced aircraft carrier, which added thousands more troops to what was already the largest military presence in the region in generations.
Trump has justified the boat strikes as a necessary escalation to stem the flow of drugs into the US and asserted that the US is engaged in an “armed conflict” with drug cartels.
After a months-long pressure campaign by Trump, the US carried out a large-scale strike against Venezuela and Maduro, who, along with his wife, was captured and flown out of the country.
Venezuela declared a state of emergency and accused the US of an "extremely serious military aggression" after explosions rocked the capital Caracas in the early hours of Saturday.
(With inputs from AFP, AP)