Venezuelan president Nicolas Maduro "did a lot of damage" to his own people, the Taoiseach has said. Speaking in China, Micheál Martin did not condemn the US seizure of Mr Maduro over the weekend as a breach of the international rules-based order. China has condemned the US action as a breach of international law, but Mr Martin said the Irish Government has "never accepted the legitimacy of the Maduro regime". Mr Martin said it had been a "particularly brutal and repressive regime". Asked if Ireland should be wary of the US actions in Venezuela, Mr Martin said that he believed Mr Maduro to have been "tyrannical".

Source: Irish Examiner January 05, 2026 15:50 UTC