The Spanish prime minister on Sunday said he has "strongly condemned" the violation of international law in Venezuela, referring to recent US strikes and the capture of the country's President Nicolas Maduro.

In a letter to his Socialist Workers Party (PSOE) to congratulate on the new year, Pedro Sanchez said: "The recent violation of international law in Venezuela, an act we strongly condemn, as well as the suffering of the peoples of Ukraine and Palestine, remind us how important it is to have a government in Spain that advocates and defends, always and everywhere, international law and the peaceful resolution of conflicts."

This condemnation came after his Saturday remarks in which he refused to recognize the US intervention.

"Spain did not recognize the Maduro regime. But neither will it recognize an intervention that violates international law and pushes the region toward a horizon of uncertainty and belligerence," Sanchez wrote on the US social media company X.

US actions in Venezuela 'state terrorism'

The leader of Spain’s left-wing party Podemos, Ione Belarra, also sharply criticized Washington and Trump at a demonstration in Madrid against recent US actions in Venezuela.

Speaking to reporters while participating in a protest held in front of the US Embassy, Belarra said demonstrators had taken to the streets “to shout no to war and demand an end to the illegal military interventions of the United States and Donald Trump.”

"Enough of wars for oil, enough of illegal military aggressions like the one we saw yesterday in Venezuela that can only be described as state terrorism, and the main, the most important terrorist that exists at this moment in this world is Donald Trump, who is constantly attacking all the countries of the world and who, at this moment, along with the United States, represents the greatest threat to the security of our people," she said.

She called for cutting ties with Washington, saying: "We demand the severing of all relations with the United States because the objective must be to internationally isolate Donald Trump, who is behaving like the Hitler of our time."

Belarra also criticized European and Spanish authorities, saying "the attitude of the European Commission and particularly the Spanish government is deplorable,” and accused them of acting as "true lackeys" of the US.

She compared the situation to Russia, arguing that if a country like Ukraine had been attacked and its president abducted, the European Commission would already have imposed sanctions. According to her, this was not happening because "depending on the economic interests of the United States and Europe, different levels of evaluation are applied." "This is something we cannot accept."

The Podemos leader called on the people "to take to the streets en masse" to demand that Spain’s government and the European Commission "internationally isolate Trump and the United States."

The demonstration was backed by left-wing groups including Podemos and the Communist Party of Spain (PCE).

Venezuela early Saturday said the US attacked civilian and military installations in multiple states, and then declared ‌a national ‌emergency.

US President Donald Trump confirmed the "large scale" strike, and that Maduro and his wife had been captured and flown out of the country. He later said the US will "run" Venezuela until a "safe" transition is ensured, and fix its "broken" oil infrastructure.

The two have been taken to a detention center in New York, and will appear in court over alleged drug-trafficking charges.

The attacks came after months of growing US pressure on Maduro, who Washington accuses of being involved in drug trafficking. The Venezuelan leader had denied the claims and expressed readiness for talks.