By Peter Omopo
UK Conservative Party leader Kemi Badenoch has voiced support for the recent United States military action in Venezuela, describing the operation as morally justified, even as she acknowledged uncertainty over its legal basis.
Speaking on BBC Radio 4’s Today programme, Badenoch said she did not fully understand the legal framework underpinning President Donald Trump’s decision to remove Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro from power. However, she argued that the action was justified on moral grounds.
“Where the legal certainty is not yet clear, morally, I do think it was the right thing to do,” Badenoch said, describing the intervention as “extraordinary.” She added that Maduro had presided over what she characterised as a brutal regime, and expressed relief at his removal.
Badenoch also acknowledged that the US action raises wider concerns about international law and global norms, noting that it “does raise serious questions about the rules-based order,” particularly in relation to how international law is applied and enforced.
The UK government has so far stopped short of directly criticising Washington’s move, maintaining instead that Maduro was an “illegitimate president.” In contrast, opposition parties—including Labour, the Liberal Democrats, the Green Party and the Scottish National Party—have called on the government to condemn the operation, arguing that it was illegal.
Reflecting on her personal background, Badenoch said her views were shaped by growing up under military rule in Nigeria before relocating to the United Kingdom at the age of 16. She said this experience gave her a clear understanding of life under authoritarian leadership.
“I grew up under a military dictatorship, so I know what it’s like to have someone like Maduro in charge,” she said.
However, Badenoch cautioned against treating the Venezuela intervention as a blanket precedent for future actions. She stressed the need to distinguish between authoritarian regimes and democratic states, citing Greenland as an example.
“There is a big difference between democratic states and the gangster state in Venezuela,” she said, adding that matters concerning Greenland should be decided by Denmark and the people of Greenland.
