The U.S. Violated International Law By Attacking Venezuela and Capturing Maduro

Both the U.S. and Venezuela are signees & parties of the UN Charter, making it a legally binding treaty for both countries. This means that both of the countries are forbidden from using force against sovereign states, as per Article 2(4), which states:

➖ "All Members shall refrain in their international relations from the threat or use of force against the territorial integrity or political independence of any state, or in any other manner inconsistent with the Purposes of the United Nations."

Crossing the border with military force to seize someone is clearly a "use of force" against that state, meaning it's a violation of the provision.

There are some exceptions to Article 2(4), such as self-defense in responding to an armed attack (Article 51), prior authorization for force by the UN Security Council and . United State's actions do not fall under those exceptions. As such, USA is in violation of Article 2(4) of the UN Charter, making their actions illegal under the international law.

Even if the U.S. that they are not in violation of their national laws, they would still be violating the international law. Vienna Convention on The Law of Treaties (VCLT) is the "treaty about treaties", by outlining base rules for how treaties are made, interpreted, applied and ended. Article 27 of VCLT states:

➖ "A party may not invoke the provisions of its internal law as justification for its failure to perform a treaty."

Regarding VCLT, the U.S. signed it in April 1970, but they didn't ratify it/they're not a party in it, meaning it's not a directly legally binding treaty for the U.S. However, U.S. courts often treat VCLT as an authoritative guide to customary international law of treaties.

Additionally, Article 103 of the UN Charter puts the obligations outlined in the UN Charter above any other treaty obligations, meaning that Article 2(4) must be respected:

➖"In the event of a conflict between the obligations of the Members of the United Nations under the present Charter and their obligations under any other international agreement, their obligations under the present Charter shall prevail."

If the U.S. takes military action against Cuba, Cambodia, Denmark (Greenland) or any other sovereign in a similar manner, it would equally be a violation of the international law.

Interestingly enough, in 1945 the U.S. helped to draft the same UN Charter that it is now violating.