UN Secretary-General António Guterres “deeply alarmed” by the United States’ attack on Venezuela

The United Nations (UN) Security Council will hold an emergency meeting in New York with UN Secretary-General António Guterres “deeply alarmed” by the United States’ attack on Venezuela.

However, the deepening political volatility in the US is creating significant challenges for the UN, whose headquarters are in New York.

Speaking on the Australia Institute’s After America podcast in December, Dr Ruth Mitchell, neurosurgeon and Nobel Prize winner with the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons, revealed that civil society delegations and the international medical community no longer feel safe attending UN events and meetings.

“We’re seeing diplomats, heads of state having their US visas cancelled, which is a huge violation of the agreement the United States has with the United Nations,” Dr Mitchell said.

“If you’re going to host the main office, the global headquarters of the United Nations in New York City, then there’s an understanding and an agreement that there are responsibilities that go with that privilege.

“That means you have to let the diplomats and heads of state in. And so, cancelling the visas of very significant (people), whether it’s diplomats, heads of state, and now we see the cancellation of visas of other public figures, Nobel prize winning authors … this sort of stuff is super chilling.”

Diplomats have accused the Trump administration of using visa controls as a political pressure point and a means to punish countries at odds with Washington.

Dr Mitchell said the International Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War (IPPNW) is considering relocating major meetings from New York to Geneva.

“Our head office for IPPNW is in Boston and the current political climate makes it challenging for things like fundraising.

“We have decisions to make as we think collectively about if there’s a meeting at the UN who should we be really having there.

Dr Mitchell said she’s now reluctant to invite advocates, activists and students to events.

“It now means that in practical terms, I don’t feel like we can advocate for having a big crew of like doctors and medical students from all over the world, who look as diverse as they are, showing up in New York knowing what happens to people who aren’t like literally the colour of a hotel towel, you know, at the hands of ICE (US Immigration and Customs Enforcement).

“It’s terrifying. I feel a duty of care as the chair of the board, particularly to our medical students … I don’t really feel good about saying to everyone, ‘Let’s go to New York. We’re going to have a great time.’ I don’t think that’s a real thing. I feel really frightened for that.”

She said meetings will increasingly be shifted to outside the United States.

The Sydney neurosurgeon revealed a recent trip to Chicago had her fearing the worst as the Trump administration introduced requirements for visitors to disclose five years’ worth of social media history.

“My statements and opinions on things do not redact well from the digital record and they are not complimentary to the current administration… and while that trip went off without incident, I have a feeling it will be my last trip to the United States for a while.”

Since that meeting in July 2025, she said, “things have shifted in a terrible way” and pointed out “there have been all kinds of deportations and lots of ICE action in Chicago itself in neighbourhoods I walked and ran through”.

The IPPNW now has an office in Geneva which she says, “means we have this little kind of embassy almost”.

“I think that’s probably where we’re going to end up catching up more often. And I think it would be great if we could have some of those big UN meetings there instead of in in in New York for that reason.

“Of course, there’s challenges there, too. Not everyone can always get a visa to go to Geneva, but nobody’s worried they’re going to end up in El Salvador.”