Singapore’s Lee Hsien Loong says US raid in Venezuela is worrying for small countries
The city state has always made its stance clear on such issues, such as when it opposed the US invasion of Grenada in 1983, the ex-PM says
Speaking at a dialogue session during the ISEAS-Yusof Ishak Institute Regional Outlook Forum in Singapore on Thursday, Lee said: “I think in this case, it’s quite clear it’s a contravention of international law.”
Lee acknowledged that Venezuela had a difficult internal situation with the legitimacy of its government being questioned. These challenges destabilised the environment for its neighbours, including the US, because of drugs and refugees, but “that does not justify a military intervention by one country into another, unilaterally and without any proper authorisation”.
He argued that the immediate consequences of the intervention might work in terms of being a “spectacular military success”, but it spelled trouble for the longer-term consequences on the international system.