Zapallar [Chile], January 7 (ANI): Jorge Heine, Former Minister of National Assets of Chile and the former Ambassador of Chile to India, said he was shocked at the 'timidness of the European reaction' on the US operation in Venezuela.

He further said that the US had intervened in Latin America several times, but this one is different, while talking to ANI,

'There have been many US interventions in Latin America in the course of the past couple of centuries, but this one is different because this is the first time there has been a US military attack on the South American mainland. Until now, we have had such attacks on Mexico, on Central America, and on the Caribbean, the latest one being on Panama in 1989. This one, attacking and bombing the capital city of Caracas, a city of 3 million, and kidnapping President Maduro and his wife, breaks new ground. A certain threshold has been crossed, and we are into uncharted waters, and this is creating uncertainty as to what will happen next,' he said.

He added that there is an air of uncertainty about what would happen next if this operation were to be taken as a precedent.

'Even Latin American established democracies like Mexico and Colombia are not exempt from possible attacks by the US... I was particularly shocked by the timidness of the European reaction. Greenland might be next, and yet the European countries looked with remarkable equanimity at this attack on Venezuela, not realising they might be next in line. We are moving here into a very different world... It's quite unclear how this will be approached by the international community,' he said.

Heine said that he wanted India to condemn the attack on Venezuela.

'I would expect India to condemn this attack on Venezuela by the US. The basic rule of system based on the US in international law is the use of international force by one state against another, is something that is banned, not accepted, and there is only one narrow acceptance to this rule, that is when you act in self-defence. There was no attack by Venezuela on the United States,' he said.

Heine said that there was no fentanyl exported by Venezuela to the US, as it is not a major drug-producing country.

'The argument that drug trafficking from Venezuela to the United States is the cause behind the attack is something that does not hold water. There is not a single boat carrying fentanyl that has been detained in the Caribbean. Venezuela is not a major drug producing or exporting country, so this is a bogus claim made by the US,' he said.

Meanwhile, Venezuela's acting president Delcy Rodriguez on Tuesday announced seven days of national mourning following the deaths reported during the recent US attack in Caracas and capture of Venezuelan dictator Nicolas Maduro and his wife, CNN reported. (ANI)