Screenshot from the Straits Times report on Senior Minister Lee Hsien Loong

The US use of military intervention in Venezuela is not justified, and its longer-term consequences for the international system are something that small countries have to worry about, Singapore Senior Minister Lee Hsien Loong said at ISEAS Yusof Ishak Institute's Regional Outlook Forum on Thursday, according to media reports. 

We are very gravely concerned by the US military intervention in Venezuela. We are against military intervention on other countries because this is contrary to international laws. It's contrary to the UN Charter, Lee said, according to a video released by the Lianhe Zaobao.

"Venezuela is a complicate country. It's got very difficult internal situation… It's destabilizing the neighborhood, including causing some difficulty to the US. But that does not justify a military intervention by one country into another unilaterally and without any proper authorization," Lee said at the forum, according to a video released by the Straits Times. 

Lee noted that "the immediate consequences: maybe it works and it's a spectacular military success. The longer-term consequences on the international system, I think that is something which we have to worry about. From the point of view of a small country, if that is the way the world works, we have a problem. To some extent, that has always been the way the world works, the US has done this many times over in difficult parts of the world… other powers do it too."

"But you look at the situation, you look at the impact of it and you ask yourself, is this a plus or minus, and I don's think this is a plus," said Lee.  

Lee was appointed as Senior Minister after stepping down as Singapore's Prime Minister. Lee was Prime Minister from August 2004 to May 2024, according to a release from the Prime Ministers Office of Singapore. 

Singapore is gravely concerned by the US military intervention in Venezuela on January 3, the Singapore Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) said in a statement on January 4. "Singapore is deeply committed to international law and the principles of the UN Charter that safeguard the independence, sovereignty and territorial integrity of all states, especially small states," the ministry said, per the Straits Times.

"Singapore has consistently opposed actions contrary to international law by any parties, including foreign military intervention in any country," according to the statement. 


Global Times