Former Minister of External Affairs, Professor Bolaji Akinyemi, on Monday, faulted the invasion of Venezuela by the United States Special Forces, accusing President Donald Trump of playing with third world war.

Akinyemi said Trump disrespected the sovereignty of the South American nation.

The former Director General of the Nigerian Institute of International Affairs accused Trump of double standards, recalling how he accused the Ukrainian President, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, of instigating a third world war at the start of the Ukraine-Russia war.

“The first meeting with the President of Ukraine, Trump was screaming at Zelensky that you are playing with third world war,.

“It is Trump who is playing with the third world war and this is frightening,” the respected diplomat said during an interview on Channels Television’s Politics Today.

“We in Nigeria are at the crossroads of global instability. When in the 70s I was Director General of the Nigerian Institute of International Affairs, I was advocating that Nigeria should build a powerbase that will protect itself.

“People thought I didn’t know what I was talking about. My colleagues at the university at that time thought I had no business talking about power,” he added.

On January 3, Trump announced the capture of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, alongside his wife Cilia Flores, from the Miraflores Palace, Caracas.

Trump later posted a picture of Maduro, blindfolded and handcuffed, aboard the amphibious USS Iwo Jima warship as proof of capture.

UN Security Council Meets

The development has since drawn condemnation with world leaders questioning the legality of the US invasion on Trump’s orders.

Amid international alarm, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres told an emergency UN Security Council meeting that there should be “respect for the principles of sovereignty, political independence, and territorial integrity.”

There was sharp criticism Monday from Mexico, where President Claudia Sheinbaum said the Americas “do not belong” to anyone.

Colombian President Gustavo Petro issued a fiery statement saying that as a former guerrilla fighter, he was ready to “take up arms” against Trump.

Maduro became president in 2013, taking over from his equally hardline socialist predecessor, Hugo Chavez.

The United States and the European Union say he stayed in power by rigging elections and imprisoning opponents while overseeing rampant corruption.

The end to a quarter century of leftist rule leaves Venezuela’s approximately 30 million people facing uncertainty.

Some 2,000 Maduro supporters, including rifle-wielding men on motorcycles, rallied Sunday in Caracas, waving Venezuelan flags.

On Monday, deputies in the Venezuelan parliament shouted “Let’s go, Nico!” in support of the ousted leader.

For now, though, the Trump administration is indicating it wants continuity with the remainder of Maduro’s entourage—provided they submit to US demands.

Interim president Delcy Rodriguez, who was Maduro’s vice president, dropped an initially defiant posture on Sunday, saying she was ready for “cooperation”.

Trump has made clear there is no appetite for helping opposition candidates previously seen as the rightful winners of rigged elections to take power.

‘Need Access To Oil’

When asked what he needs from interim leader Rodriguez, Trump said, “We need total access. We need access to the oil and other things in their country that allow us to rebuild their country.”

Venezuela has the world’s largest proven oil reserves. However, the oil is difficult and expensive to produce, and after years of international sanctions and mismanagement, the infrastructure is in poor shape.

Shares in US oil majors Chevron, ExxonMobil, and ConocoPhillips surged on Wall Street early Monday.

Trump, who has shocked many Americans with his unprecedented moves to accumulate domestic power, also now appears increasingly emboldened in foreign policy.

On Sunday, he said communist Cuba was “ready to fall”, and he repeated that Greenland, which is part of US ally Denmark, should be controlled by the United States.

He has lashed out at Colombia’s Petro, saying he should “watch his ass”.

Although there are no known US troops in Venezuela now, the Trump administration says it retains powerful economic leverage through an oil blockade. Trump has also threatened additional military attacks.

A huge US naval presence, including an aircraft carrier, is deployed in the Caribbean.

Details of the US operation in Caracas were still emerging Monday, with Havana saying 32 Cubans were killed in the attack. No US service members were killed, but some were wounded, according to US officials.

Protesting outside the New York court, leftist activist Sydney Loving, 31, said she stood “with the people of Venezuela”.

“We say no to US wars. We say no to US intervention. It’s not in our benefit. It does not make the US safer; it makes the people on Wall Street richer,” she told AFP.

However, Angel Montero, who moved to the United States from Venezuela, described the downfall of Maduro as “the best gift I ever received.”

“I’m going to thank Donald Trump,” Montero, 36, said. (Channels TV)