Jan 3 - Spain will not recognize a U.S. intervention in Venezuela that violates international law, Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez said on Saturday, after U.S. forces captured long-serving Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro in an overnight operation.

"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 X, after U.S. President Donald Trump announced the U.S. would run the South American country until a "safe" transition was completed.

Sanchez also called on all parties to "think of the civilian population, to respect the United Nations Charter, and to articulate a fair and dialogued transition."