Analysis of the UN adviser’s statement by Labour CND, together with model motions for CLPS from the Campaign for Labour Democracy and Momentum and details of upcoming events.
American economist and UN adviser Jeffrey Sachs delivered a scorching attack on US actions at the emergency UNSC meeting on Venezuela on 5th January, urging the Security Council to defend international law. The issue, he said, “is not the character of the government of Venezuela.”
The issue is whether any UN member state has the right to determine Venezuela’s political future or to exercise control over its affairs. Sachs urged the UNSC to uphold, not abandon, the foundational principles of territorial integrity and political independence enshrined in the Charter.
The world’s leading nations had failed to defend international law in the 1930s, Sachs said, leading to renewed global war. The United Nations emerged from that catastrophe as the second attempt to put international law above international anarchy.
Quoting the introduction to the Charter – the UN was created “to save succeeding generations from the scourge of war, which twice in our lifetime has brought untold sorrow to mankind” – Sachs argued: “Given that we are in the nuclear age, failure cannot be repeated. Humanity would perish. There would be no third chance.”
All member states should refrain from unilateral threats, coercive measures, or armed actions undertaken outside the authority of the UN Security Council. Sachs concluded that to fulfil its responsibilities under the Charter, the Security Council should immediately affirm the following actions:
- The United States shall:
- immediately cease and desist from all explicit and implicit threats or use of force against Venezuela
- terminate its naval quarantine and all related coercive military measures undertaken in the absence of authorization by the UN Security Council
- immediately withdraw its military forces from within and along the perimeter of Venezuela, including intelligence, naval, air, and other forward-deployed assets positioned for coercive purposes.
- Venezuela shall adhere to the UN Charter and to the human rights protected in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
Sachs recommended that the UN Secretary General should appoint a special envoy to engage relevant Venezuelan and international stakeholders, who would report back to the Security Council making recommendations consistent with the Charter.
All member states should refrain from unilateral threats, coercive measures, or armed actions undertaken outside the authority of the UN Security Council.
Peace and the survival of humanity depend on whether the UN Charter remains a living instrument of international law or is allowed to wither into irrelevance, he concluded. That is the choice before this Council today.
This article is reproduced with kind permission of Labour CND.
Watch Jeffrey Sachs’ speech in full here.
Model motions from CLPD and Momentum:
- Model motion for CLPs proposed by the Campaign for Labour Party Democracy:
Model Motion on the US military attack in Venezuela
This CLP notes:
1) The TUC General Council statement on Venezuela, which expresses its “‘absolute and unequivocal rejection of the US military attack in Venezuela, and the abduction of President Nicolás Maduro and his wife Cilia Flores. This is a clear breach of international law, the UN Charter, and of Venezuela’s sovereignty. We condemn any attempt to control Venezuela’s natural and strategic resources.”
And the statement calls “on the UK government to condemn this blatant violation of international law and to make clear that the UN charter applies to all member states consistently.”
2) The position set out by Emily Thornberry MP, Chair of the Commons Foreign Affairs Committee, that the US military strike on Venezuela was “not a legal action”, that she “cannot think of anything that could be a proper justification”, and that the UK and its allies should collectively say “we cannot have breaches of international law like this. We cannot have the law of the jungle.”
3) A Joint communiqué rejecting the US attack on Venezuela has been signed by Spain, Mexico, and the following the left of centre Governments in South America: Brazil, Colombia, Chile and Uruguay.
This CLP agrees that our Labour government should speak out against this US military action and we call on the government to:
1) condemn the US military aggression in Venezuela; and to
2) demand that the US releases Nicolás Maduro and Cilia Flores and returns them to Venezuela.
We agree to write to the following, to inform them of our views:
1) Keir Starmer, Prime Minister and Party Leader; and
2) Yvette Cooper, Foreign Secretary.
Background Information
1) Contact Details
Keir Starmer: https://contact.no10.gov.uk and/or keir.starmer.mp@parliament.uk
Yvette Cooper: fcdo.correspondence@fcdo.gov.uk and/or coopery@parliament.uk
2) TUC General Council Statement
https://www.tuc.org.uk/news/tuc-general-council-statement-venezuela
3) Emily Thornbury says US action in Venezuela is not legal
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cwyr3q3xlqzo
4) Joint communiqué by Spain and five Latin American countries rejecting US attack on Venezuela
https://www.euronews.com/2026/01/04/spain-and-5-latin-american-countries-reject-us-attack-on-venezuela-in-joint-communique
B. Model motion for CLPs proposed by Momentum
Model motion on the Illegal Act of Aggression by the United States Against the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela
This CLP utterly condemns the military aggression against Venezuela ordered by President Donald Trump – an illegal and dangerous US regime change operation against a sovereign nation.
We note the advice of the European Association of Lawyers for Democracy and World Human Rights (ELDH) based on Lawyers in 23 countries that Trump’s actions:
▪ Violate the United Nation’s Charter.
▪ Are an act of aggression and violation of the principle of non-intervention.
▪ Constitute an illegal kidnapping and demand immediate release.
▪ Mean the United States bears full international responsibility for its unlawful conduct.
As Donald Trump explained it constitutes a return to the Monroe Doctrine which effectively defined Latin America as the United States’ backyard. “The United States will reassert and enforce the Monroe doctrine to restore American pre-eminence,” states the new National Security Strategy.
We demand an immediate end to this illegal US military action against Venezuela and the safe return of President Nicolás Maduro, who has been kidnapped as part of a US regime-change operation aimed at seizing control of Venezuela and its resources.
In particular we:
▪ Call upon our local MP to associate themself with and make public statements and speeches which publicly and unequivocally denounce these acts of aggression and reaffirm our party’s commitment to the UN Charter and international law.
e.g. Early Day Motions, public statements, support for protests and votes within Parliament.
▪ Call upon Keir Starmer, as our Labour Prime Minister, to request an urgent meeting of the United Nations Security Council to address this situation, to demand the immediate release of President Nicolás Maduro and his wife, and to take all necessary measures, in accordance with the Charter, to uphold international peace and security and ensure accountability for violations of international law.
▪ Write to the National Executive Committee and the Prime Minister with a copy of this motion to make them aware of our stance
Contacts
Contact for Prime Minister https://contact.no10.gov.uk
NEC Chair: Shabana Mahmood MP shabana.mahmood.mp@parliament.uk
Upcoming events
Stand with Venezuela and Latin America, 7.30pm, Thursday January 8th, with Jeremy Corbyn MP, Vijay Prashad, Claudia Turbet-Delof and more, details here. Organized by the Peace & Justice Project.
No to Trump’s War on Venezuela! 1-3pm, Saturday January 10th, protest at Downing Street, London.
INTERNATIONAL FORUM: Trump’s War on Venezuela – US Hands off Latin America!
Online, 6.30pm, Monday January 19th, with Jeremy Corbyn MP, Vijay Prashad, Kate Hudson and more. Register here. Organized by the Venezuela Solidarity Campaign and streamed by Arise – a Festival of Left Ideas.
Image: United Nations Security Council in New York City https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:United_Nations_Security_Council_in_New_York_City_2.JPG Author: MusikAnimal, licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 International license.
Labour Hub 
