The Mexican government on Saturday issued a statement expressing its condemnation of the United States’ military actions in Venezuela, where President Nicolás Maduro and his wife Cilia Flores were captured by U.S. forces before being flown to the USS Iwo Jima naval vessel in the Caribbean Sea prior to their transfer to New York to face criminal charges.
“The government of Mexico vigorously condemns and rejects the military actions carried out unilaterally in recent hours by the armed forces of the United States of America against targets in the territory of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela,” says the statement issued by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (SRE) and shared on social media by President Claudia Sheinbaum.
El Artículo 2, párrafo 4 de la Carta de las Naciones Unidas dice textualmente:
“Los Miembros de la Organización, en sus relaciones internacionales, se abstendrán de recurrir a la amenaza o al uso de la fuerza contra la integridad territorial o la independencia política de…
— Claudia Sheinbaum Pardo (@Claudiashein) January 3, 2026
The statement adds that the U.S. actions — which included strikes in and around the Venezuelan capital of Caracas — were “in clear violation of article 2 of the Charter of the United Nations.”
In her social media post, Sheinbaum pointed to the fourth paragraph of Article 2 of the UN Charter, which states that “all [UN] Members shall refrain in their international relations from the threat or use of force against the territorial integrity or political independence of any state.”
In its statement, the SRE also referred to Mexico’s “foreign policy principles,” which include a constitutionally-enshrined principle of “non-intervention” in the internal affairs of foreign countries.
Sheinbaum had said on repeated occasions that Mexico was opposed to U.S. military action in Venezuela.
The SRE’s statement said:
“Based on its foreign policy principles and its pacifist vocation, Mexico makes an urgent call to respect international law, as well as the principles and purposes of the UN Charter, and to cease any acts of aggression against the Venezuelan government and people. Latin America and the Caribbean is an area of peace, built on the basis of mutual respect, the peaceful settlement of disputes, and the prohibition of the use and threat of force. Therefore, any military action poses a serious risk to regional stability.”
The Mexican government also asserted that “dialogue and negotiation are the only legitimate and effective means to resolve existing differences” and consequently reaffirmed its “willingness to support any effort aimed at facilitating dialogue, mediation, or accompaniment that contributes to preserving regional peace and avoiding confrontation.”
In addition, it urged the UN to “act immediately to contribute to the deescalation of tensions and facilitate dialogue and create conditions that allow for a peaceful and sustainable solution in accordance with international law.”
Trump: ‘Something’s going to have to be done with Mexico’
U.S. President Donald Trump wrote on Truth Social in the early hours of Saturday that the United States had “successfully carried out a large-scale strike against Venezuela and its leader, President Nicolás Maduro, who has been, along with his wife, captured and flown out of the Country.”
🔴“Algo habrá que hacer con México”, dice Donald Trump, tras la captura de Nicolás Maduro y ataques a Venezuela
En entrevista con Fox News, el presidente de Estados Unidos aseguró que los cárteles gobiernan México.
“Le he preguntado (a Claudia Sheinbaum) en numerosas ocasiones:… pic.twitter.com/xBQZGgUifk
— Azucena Uresti (@azucenau) January 3, 2026
The attack on Venezuela came after the U.S. military carried out strikes in recent months on numerous alleged drug boats from the South American nation, where Maduro assumed the presidency after the death of Hugo Chávez in 2013.
The United States government accuses Maduro of leading a drug trafficking organization it refers to as the Cartel de los Soles, which the Trump administration last year designated as a foreign terrorist organization (FTO).
During an interview with Fox News later on Saturday, Trump spoke not only about Venezuela but also about Mexico, where the U.S. last year flew drones to spy on cartels.
He described Sheinbaum as “a good woman,” but asserted — and not for the first time — that “the cartels are running Mexico.”
“She’s not running Mexico, the cartels are running Mexico,” Trump said.
“… [Sheinbaum’s] very frightened of the cartels, they’re running Mexico, and I’ve asked her numerous times, ‘would you like us to take out the cartels?’ [and she says] ‘No, no, no, Mr. President, no, no, no please,'” he said.
“So we have to do something,” Trump said before speaking about people who have died in the United States from overdoses after taking drugs that “mostly” enter the U.S. from Mexico.
“They come in from the southern border and something’s going to have to be done with Mexico,” said the U.S. president, who told a press conference on Saturday that the U.S. would “run” Venezuela until a proper transition of power could take place.
Sheinbaum has said on repeated occasions that her government is willing to collaborate with its U.S. counterpart on security matters, but would never accept any violation of its sovereignty.
A violation of Mexico’s sovereignty would occur if the U.S. military were to unilaterally carry out a strike on a cartel target within Mexico or deploy troops south of the border to combat Mexican criminal groups that the Trump administration has designated as FTOs, such as the Sinaloa Cartel and the Jalisco New Generation Cartel.
By Mexico News Daily chief staff writer Peter Davies (peter.davies@mexiconewsdaily.com)
