UK Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch has stated that the recent US military action in Venezuela was morally justified, even though she admitted she was uncertain about the legal basis for the operation.
Badenoch made the remarks during interviews with the BBC, where she explained that she did not fully understand the legal framework behind former US President Donald Trump’s mission to remove Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro from power.
However, she argued that Maduro led a repressive administration and welcomed his removal from office.
“Where the legal certainty is not yet clear, morally, I do think it was the right thing to do,” Badenoch said on BBC Radio 4’s Today programme.
She described the US intervention as “extraordinary” but said she recognised the motivation behind it, given the nature of Maduro’s governance.
“He was overseeing a brutal regime, and I’m glad he’s gone,” she added.
Badenoch also acknowledged that the action had wider implications for global norms. According to her, the intervention “does raise serious questions about the rules-based order,” especially regarding how international law is interpreted and enforced.
So far, the UK government has avoided openly criticising the US move or declaring whether it breached international law. Instead, officials have maintained that Maduro was an “illegitimate president.”
In contrast, several Labour MPs and opposition parties, including the Liberal Democrats, the Green Party, and the Scottish National Party, have urged the government to formally condemn the action and describe it as illegal.
Drawing on her personal background, Badenoch said her position was influenced by her experience of growing up under military rule.
“I grew up under a military dictatorship, so I know what it’s like to have someone like Maduro in charge,” she said, referring to her childhood in Nigeria before relocating to the UK at the age of 16.
However, the Conservative leader stressed that US intervention should not be applied in every situation. She said it was appropriate to caution Trump against intervening in Greenland, insisting that democratic nations should be treated differently.
“There is a big difference between democratic states and the gangster state in Venezuela,” Badenoch said, adding: “What happens in Greenland is up to Denmark and the people of Greenland.”
