Tánaiste says fact Maduro is gone is 'good thing' as he had no 'democratic legitimacy'

By Cillian Sherlock, Press Association

Ireland is not taking a “softly softly” approach over US intervention in Venezuela, the Tánaiste has said.

Simon Harris said he would not describe the Trump administration’s strikes on Venezuela and the middle-of-the-night capture of its president Nicolás Maduro and his wife Cilia Flores as “kidnapping”.

He said that it was an “operation to remove” Maduro, who he said was not democratically elected and whom the US believed was responsible for narco-terrorism and “bringing misery and pain to so many people”.

Maduro appeared in a New York court on Monday when he pleaded not guilty to “narco-terrorism” charges and claimed he was a prisoner of war.

Speaking at a press conference on Tuesday, Mr Harris said: “The fact that Maduro is gone from power is a good thing. He’s a brutal dictator who had no democratic legitimacy.

“He categorically, fundamentally, resoundingly lost an election and was bringing pain and misery to his people.

“There was somebody who democratically won the election in Venezuela, and that’s quite clear as well.

“I do think this is complex when it comes to international law. I do think that’s fair, but the reality is this individual was not a democratically elected state, was not a legitimate head of state, wasn’t recognised by Ireland, by the European Union, by the United States of America.”

He added: “He’ll now face justice and through a court system – something that I’m sure he wouldn’t afford to make people in his own country.”

Pressed on whether he believed the Trump administration should remove dictators from other countries, Mr Harris said: “Firstly, we didn’t go in anywhere but it’s hard for me to express sympathy for Maduro.”

He added: “The complexity here is the fact that Maduro was not a democratically elected head of state and was, in the view of the United States, posing a very significant danger to them.”

Pressed on whether the US should have engaged with the mechanisms of the International Criminal Court, Mr Harris said Ireland’s preference to international institutions is “well known”.

Asked about reports that a US jet flew over Ireland to observe an oil tanker in the Atlantic, the Tánaiste said he was “truthfully not aware” if the flight had been given permission by the Irish State, but said he imagined that “very clear rules” on planes from other jurisdictions transiting through Irish space had been followed.

The Marinera, a Russian-flagged tanker previously known as the Bella 1, appears to be making its way north-east through the Atlantic, with several media reports suggesting it had avoided US President Donald Trump’s “total naval blockade” of Venezuela, in place since late December.

Mr Harris said: “Ireland is a neutral country and a neutral country means we’re not militarily aligned, but that doesn’t mean that we’re in any way immune from or unconcerned about security.”

He added that Russia is “carrying out a war on the continent of Europe” and “is not a friend of Ireland”.

On US threats to annex Greenland, Mr Harris said the territory was part of Denmark and the European Union.

He added: “Anything to do with Greenland is a matter for the people of Greenland.”

Mr Harris said he supported comments by Danish prime minister Mette Frederiksen that the security of Greenland is enabled by the fact that Denmark is a member of the EU and Nato.