UK Discovers International Law Exists, For US Actions Only
Bloomberg reports UK Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper urging US Secretary of State Marco Rubio to adhere to international law, specifically concerning the 'American removal of Nicolás Maduro' from Venezuela. This sudden British commitment to global legal frameworks might raise an eyebrow, considering the UK's own rather creative interpretations of sovereignty in places like the Chagos Islands
(which they've held against international court rulings, UN resolutions, and Mauritian claims since 1965). Apparently, international law is a guideline for thee, but not for me. (Or perhaps, it's only legally binding when convenient.) One might wonder where this sudden burst of legal consciousness was when the US was busy destabilizing governments across Latin America for decades, or when the UK
itself was, say, invading Iraq without a UN mandate. It seems 'international law' is a political tool, not a sacred principle, to be dusted off and wielded only when a particular outcome has already been achieved by an ally. The audacity of reminding someone to comply after they've done exactly what they wanted is not advocacy; it's a press release. The US 'removal' of Maduro was a coup, plain and
simple, and now the UK wants to sanitize it with a belated nod to 'rules-based order'.