Venezuela fires back at Greek PM Mitsotakis over comments on U.S. action
Venezuela’s government has issued a strong rebuke to Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis following his remarks on the recent U.S. military operation in Venezuela and the capture of President Nicolás Maduro.
Mitsotakis had described Maduro’s government as a “brutal and repressive dictatorship” and suggested its end could bring “new hope” — while deliberately avoiding commentary on the legality of the U.S. actions.
In response, Venezuelan Foreign Minister Iván Gil Pinto criticized Mitsotakis on social media and in official statements, labeling his position “shameful” and drawing an explicit comparison to Nazi-era rhetoric. Pinto asserted that:
“The Nazis used the exact same arguments now being made against Venezuela — that rejecting a government and its ideology can justify murders, invasions, and clear breaches of international law.”
The Venezuelan minister accused Mitsotakis of failing to learn from Europe’s recent history and urged him to study international law and refrain from commenting on Venezuelan affairs.
The row has not only strained Athens-Caracas relations but also sparked significant domestic criticism in Greece, where opposition parties denounced Mitsotakis’ stance as contradictory to international legal norms.
The dispute occurs amid wider global divisions over the U.S. intervention in Venezuela, with reactions from world leaders ranging from support for Venezuela’s sovereignty to concern about precedent and international law.
