A flag installation ceremony was held outside the United Nations Security Council chamber at UN Headquarters in New York, marking the start of the terms of Bahrain, Colombia, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Latvia and Liberia as non-permanent members of the Security Council. The event was attended by Abukar Dahir Osman (center), Somalia's envoy to the UN and the Council's president for January, who delivered remarks welcoming the new members. Photo: VCG

Venezuela has demanded UN Security Council hold an emergency meeting, the Xinhua News Agency reported on Saturday.

The request follows a series of US military actions in the country and Washington's claims that Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro and his wife were captured and flown out of Venezuela.

According to Xinhua, Venezuela's Permanent Mission to the United Nations sent a letter on Saturday to the rotating president of the UN Security Council, Abukar Dahir Osman, Somalia's envoy to the UN, strongly condemning what it described as a brutal, unjustified and unilateral armed aggression launched by the US against Venezuela. The letter put forward four demands.

The four demands include convening an urgent Security Council meeting to discuss the US acts of aggression; strongly condemning the US armed aggression against the Venezuelan people and government; demanding that US forces immediately cease armed attacks against Venezuela; and taking necessary measures to hold the US government accountable for its acts of aggression, the letter said, Xinhua reported.

According to Xinhua, the letter stated that in the early hours of Saturday, US forces bombed civilian and military targets in Venezuela's capital Caracas as well as in Miranda, Aragua and La Guaira states. It said US special forces carried out attacks at multiple locations across Venezuela using helicopters and aircraft, 

Describing the US actions as premeditated aggression, the letter said they constituted a blatant violation of the UN Charter. The deadly and treacherous attack was launched against a country that was in a state of complete peace, with the aim of overthrowing Venezuela's current government and imposing a puppet government to plunder the country's oil resources, it added.

CBS News claimed the Venezuelan President was captured early Saturday morning by members of the US Army's elite Delta Force, citing US officials. 

Amid the uncertainty surrounding Maduro's whereabouts, Venezuela has demanded proof that the president and his wife are safe. Speaking on Venezuela TV, the vice-president, Delcy Rodríguez, demanded immediate "proof of life" of Maduro and the first lady Cilia Flores, The Guardian reported.

Global Times