Ghanaian private legal practitioner Victoria Bright has raised concerns over a reported U.S. military operation in Venezuela, warning that it threatens international norms and the principle of state sovereignty.

Her comments follow reports of a daring U.S. operation in Caracas that allegedly resulted in the capture of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores.

In Washington, President Donald Trump confirmed the success of the mission on Saturday, announcing that both Maduro and Flores had been extracted from Venezuelan soil and were being processed at the Metropolitan Detention Centre in Brooklyn.

Speaking on the JoyNews AM Show on January 5, Ms Bright described the reported operation as deeply troubling within the context of the post–World War II rules-based international order.

“Waking up and seeing that a country with the most powerful military in the world has gone into another nation to remove the president is of concern to all of us. It’s not the kind of thing you would expect to see in this post–World War II international rules order. I find it quite shocking,” she said.

Ms Bright stressed that sovereignty remains a foundational principle of international relations and warned that violations could have far-reaching consequences.

“Of course, all countries are supposed to be sovereign, so one has to worry when that kind of thing happens because, you know, in Ghana a lot of countries will probably be concerned,” she added.

She also pointed to possible wider geopolitical repercussions.

“Now there is talk of maybe even what could happen to Cuba, for example. The U.S. has an interest in Greenland and so on and so forth, and Greenland, of course, will have serious implications for Europe because of where it’s situated and also the fact that it is a NATO member,” she said.

The legal practitioner urged restraint in public discourse, noting that details surrounding the operation are still emerging.

“These are developments that are of concern. The developments are new, and so I will say that it’s important to tread with caution, not to be too inflammatory about it, and to wait and see what the real legitimacy is,” she stated.

Ms Bright further questioned the legal justification for the reported action.

“What we have heard are the rhetoric on the news and all of that, but I would like to hear the legal basis on which America felt that it could go into somebody’s country, remove its president, and bring him back to its own soil,” she added.

The reported U.S. operation in Venezuela is expected to trigger a major legal and diplomatic confrontation, with the Department of Justice said to be preparing multiple charges against the Venezuelan leaders, raising significant questions for international law and global diplomacy.