•Venezuela invasion: Trump playing with WWIII, says Akinyemi
•European anti-imperialist chapter condemns Maduro’s abduction

Deposed Venezuelan president Nicolas Maduro pleaded not guilty to charges of narco-terrorism in a New York court on Monday, two days after being snatched by US forces in a stunning raid on his home in Caracas.

Maduro, 63, told a federal judge in Manhattan that he had been “kidnapped” from Venezuela and said, “I’m innocent; I’m not guilty,” U.S. media reported.

“I’m still the president of my country,” he was quoted as saying. Maduro’s wife, Cilia Flores, likewise pleaded not guilty.

Amid international alarm, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres told an emergency UN Security Council meeting that there should be “respect for the principles of sovereignty, political independence, and territorial integrity.”

This is as former Minister of External Affairs, Prof. Bolaji Akinyemi, on Monday faulted the invasion of Venezuela, accusing President Donald Trump of playing with third world war.

Akinyemi said Trump disrespected the sovereignty of the South American nation. The former Director General of the Nigerian Institute of International Affairs accused Trump of double standards, recalling how he accused the Ukrainian President, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, of instigating a third world war at the start of the Ukraine-Russia war.

MEANWHILE, a Europe-based anti-imperialist coalition has condemned the United States for what it calls the kidnapping of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro.

The coalition warns that the operation represents a grave violation of international law and an escalating threat to global peace.

In a statement, the International Anti-Imperialist Cumbe (European Chapter) said: “This act constitutes a violation of international law, an assault on sovereignty, and a direct attack on global peace.”

The coalition also added that the operation was conducted unilaterally, without provocation, without international mandate, and in open contempt for the United Nations Charter.