UK Cabinet minister Kemi Badenoch defended the US military operation capturing Nicolás Maduro on January 6, 2026, calling it "morally" right despite legal uncertainties, drawing from her childhood under Nigeria's military dictatorship. In a BBC Today interview, she diverged from PM Keir Starmer's caution, arguing Venezuela's "brutal regime" unrecognized by the West justified the raid, unlike Thatcher's Grenada critique.
Badenoch, born in London to Nigerian parents and raised partly in Nigeria, cited lived experience: "I grew up under a military dictatorship... I know what it’s like to have someone like Maduro in charge". She praised street celebrations post-capture, questioning selective international law outrage over prior Russian, Iranian, and Hezbollah incursions.
Dismissing rigid "rules-based order," Badenoch noted international law relies on consent: "Once people decide they don’t agree, there is no international law... no world police". Echoing Stephen Miller, she stressed strength governs, urging a robust Britain amid US actions.
Starmer and Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper reaffirmed law commitment without US rebuke, amid Maduro's NYC detention. Badenoch's shift from initial monitoring highlights her controversial Nigeria ties, including past citizenship debates.