The UN must step up as a multilateral force, or bow to Trump’s world order

Last week was when Maga came after multilateralism.

- Mark Malloch-Brown

Nicolas Maduro may, or may not, be the drug cartel leader Donald Trump claims, but he certainly stole the last Venezuelan election and several before, has driven almost a quarter of his population into exile, imprisoned and killed opponents, impoverished what was Latin America’s richest country and entrenched corruption across what's left of the economy.But the world hadn't until now found any mechanism to effectively hold him to account. Indeed, his UN representatives sometimes seemed to enjoy a perverse celebrity for their Yankee-bashing stands as part of a network that includes Cuba, North Korea, Iran and Russia.

Nevertheless, I would have been deeply critical of the US action if I had spoken at last week’s security council debate on Venezuela. It is a core premise of the UN that strong states don’t invade their neighbours.Twenty years ago, then UN secretary general Kofi

Annan and I, as his deputy, fought to establish the doctrine of the supposed “responsibility to protect” as a critical caveat to sovereignty.