"Venezuela's Minister of Foreign Affairs, Yvan Gil, called on the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (CELAC) to speak out against the attacks that the United States carried out during the capture of President Nicolas Maduro. The Venezuelan diplomat participated this Sunday in an online emergency ministerial meeting convened by CELAC, condemning the attack in the early hours of Saturday, January 3. "A cowardly and criminal military aggression was carried out, Venezuelan civilians and military personnel were killed, and the constitutional and legitimate president of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela was abducted," he declared. Gil asked CELAC to ‘step forward’ to demand ‘coexistence among nations’ and to guarantee the stability of the international system. "Here CELAC faces a historic responsibility. CELAC cannot waver. CELAC cannot divide itself between lukewarm condemnations and complicit silences. Principles are not negotiated, they are not qualified, they are not softened," he said. He also questioned statements by US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who warned on Sunday on CBS News programme ‘Face the Nation’ that the US government would "maintain multiple levers of pressure to ensure the protection" of its interests. "It is important that this community assumes that Venezuela remains under threat, remains under siege. And that it is extremely important that CELAC immediately demand the restoration of international legality," the Venezuelan official continued. Nicolas Maduro was detained along with First Lady of Venezuela Cilia Flores in the early hours of Saturday, when attacks were reported in Caracas, Miranda, Aragua and La Guaira. Following their detention, Nicolas Maduro and Cilia Flores were transferred to a detention centre in New York. The United States has accused the Venezuelan president of alleged acts of ‘narco-terrorism’."