US intervention in Venezuela 'spectacular military success' but a concern for small countries like Singapore: SM Lee
The use of military force in Venezuela may have yielded success for the US, but it comes at the cost of destabilising international order, said Senior Minister Lee Hsien Loong on Thursday (Jan 8).Speaking at the Iseas-Yusof Ishak Institute’s Regional Outlook Forum at Sands Expo & Convention Centre, SM Lee acknowledged Venezuela as a «complicated country», whose legitimacy of its government is questioned, while causing difficulties to the US due to drugs and refugees.«But that does not justify a military intervention by one country into another, unilaterally and without any proper authorisation,» he said.On Jan 3, US seized Venezuela's long-serving President Nicolas Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, and flew them to the US, accusing the president of «narco-terrorism».The Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement on Jan 4 that Singapore is gravely concerned by the US intervention in Venezuela and urged all parties to exercise restraint for a peaceful resolution there.