"The members of the Venezuela delegation here today represent the illegitimate government of Nicolas Maduro, and thus cannot be considered as speaking on behalf of the Venezuelan people," a US Mission to International Organizations spokesman declared after storming out of the Commission on Narcotic Drugs trailed by officials from several Latin American countries, Canada, and a few European nations, including France. 

Arreaza called for a multilateral approach to fighting the scourge of drugs, declaring US' "unilateral economic steps" had depleted the nation's coffers and deprived it of money it could better use to actually fight drugs.

"Today the multilateral model is under threat and the situation of Venezuela is an example of this…The government of the US has threatened our people with a military aggression, with a use of force violating the UN charter," Arreaza added.

Journalist Anya Parampil retweeted a clip of the walkout, pointing out the irony of shunning the representative of a country's elected government in a body dedicated to the principle of national sovereignty.

Others had a simpler take on the proceedings.