Venezuela: Switzerland calls for respect for international law
Following the US attack on Venezuela, Switzerland has called for de-escalation, restraint and respect for international law.
At the moment, the Swiss foreign ministry has no information on affected Swiss citizens in Venezuela.
+Get the most important news from Switzerland in your inbox
Respect for international law also includes respecting the prohibition on the use of force enshrined in international law and the territorial integrity of sovereign states, the foreign ministry’s head of communication, Nicolas Bideau, wrote on the social media platform X today.
#VenezuelaExternal link | #SwitzerlandExternal link calls for de-escalation, restraint, and respect for international law, including the prohibition of the use of force and the principle of respect for territorial integrity.
— Swiss MFA (@SwissMFA) January 3, 2026External link
The situation is being closely monitored by our embassy on the ground. At this…
The Swiss embassy in Venezuela is closely monitoring the situation, the post reads. The EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs, Kaja Kallas, had also already expressed a similar opinion to Bideau’s.
More
Venezuelan opposition in Switzerland: Maduro regime ‘knows it doesn’t have a majority’
On the night of Friday to Saturday (local time), the US attacked targets in Venezuela and, according to President Donald Trump, also captured president Nicolas Maduro and took him out of the country. According to reports, the air strikes mainly targeted military bases, airports, communication facilities and ports.
Meanwhile, according to US media reports, quoting US Attorney General Pam Bondi, Maduro and his wife were indicted in New York.
Nicolas Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, have been indicted in the Southern District of New York. Nicolas Maduro has been charged with Narco-Terrorism Conspiracy, Cocaine Importation Conspiracy, Possession of Machineguns and Destructive Devices, and Conspiracy to Possess…
— Attorney General Pamela Bondi (@AGPamBondi) January 3, 2026External link
Adapted from Italian by DeepL/ac
We select the most relevant news for an international audience and use automatic translation tools to translate them into English. A journalist then reviews the translation for clarity and accuracy before publication.
Providing you with automatically translated news gives us the time to write more in-depth articles. The news stories we select have been written and carefully fact-checked by an external editorial team from news agencies such as Bloomberg or Keystone.
If you have any questions about how we work, write to us at english@swissinfo.ch
In compliance with the JTI standards
More: SWI swissinfo.ch certified by the Journalism Trust Initiative
You can find an overview of ongoing debates with our journalists here . Please join us!
If you want to start a conversation about a topic raised in this article or want to report factual errors, email us at english@swissinfo.ch.