Jeffrey Sachs, president of the UN Sustainable Development Solutions Network and director of the Center for Sustainable Development at Columbia University, briefed the UN Security Council at an emergency meeting on the situation in Venezuela Monday. Sachs said that the United States is in serious violation of the United Nations Charter and must immediately cease its illegal military actions and threats. He noted that for decades, US foreign policy has repeatedly "employed force, covert action and political manipulation to bring about regime change in other countries," which violates international law.