Trump Boasts of Regime Change in Venezuela
Former President Trump authorized military strikes and the capture of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro without seeking prior congressional approval, according to reports. trump, in a phone interview with the New York Times, celebrated Maduro’s capture but declined to comment on whether he consulted Congress before initiating the action.
the strikes were met with swift condemnation from Congressional Democrats. Representative Jim McGovern (D-mass.), ranking member of the House Rules Committee, wrote, “Without authorization from Congress, and with the vast majority of Americans opposed to military action, Trump just launched an unjustified, illegal strike on Venezuela.” McGovern had previously introduced a war powers resolution aimed at blocking military action in Venezuela.
Representative Melanie Stansbury (D-N.M.) echoed these concerns on X, stating, “These strikes are illegal. The President does not have the authority to declare war or undertake large-scale military operations without Congress. Congress must act to rein him in. Instantly.”
Senator mike Lee (R-Utah) initially expressed concerns, writing that he was seeking justification for the action “in the absence of a declaration of war or authorization for the use of military force.” However, his concerns were reportedly assuaged by Senator Marco Rubio (R-Fla.). Lee wrote that Rubio informed him the military action was deployed to protect personnel executing an arrest warrant, potentially falling under the president’s inherent authority under Article II of the Constitution to defend U.S. personnel from attack.
The Trump management is also invoking the same Article II argument to justify a series of prior boat strikes.
Representative Jim Himes (D-Conn.), the top Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee, told The Intercept that Rubio had “repeatedly denied to Congress that the Administration intended to force regime change in Venezuela,” and that the administration owes Congress answers.
As late August, the Pentagon significantly increased its military presence in the Caribbean, deploying troops, aircraft, and naval warships. The U.S.military has conducted over 30 strikes against alleged drug-smuggling boats, resulting in at least 115 deaths. Experts in the laws of war and members of Congress from both parties have criticized these strikes as illegal extrajudicial killings, arguing that deliberately targeting civilians not posing an imminent threat is prohibited.
Further escalating tensions, the U.S. seized a Venezuelan oil tanker and threatened others. Additionally, the CIA conducted a drone strike on a port facility in Venezuela late last month, according to a government official.
The U.S. has a long history of intervention in Latin America, having intervened to oust governments at least 41 times between 1898 and 1994, including 17 direct interventions by the military, intelligence agencies, or U.S.-employed locals.
During the Cold War alone, Washington attempted at least 18 covert regime changes in Latin America, deposing nine governments that later fell under military rule in the 1960s – roughly one every 13 months.
Notable examples include the 1954 U.S.-backed overthrow of Guatemala’s democratically elected government, which led to a brutal civil war and hundreds of thousands of deaths; the 1961 Bay of Pigs invasion of Cuba and subsequent coup in the dominican Republic; and the 1973 U.S.-backed coup in Chile, which resulted in the death of President Salvador Allende and a 17-year dictatorship marked by widespread human rights abuses.
The U.S. also supported coups in Brazil (1964), Bolivia (1971), and funded the Contra rebels in Nicaragua during the 1980s. These interventions frequently failed to establish stable,pro-American democracies,frequently enough leading to authoritarian regimes and cycles of violence.
“We are going to run the country untill such time that we can do a safe proper and judicious transition,” Trump saeid at Mar-a-Lago on Saturday.”It has to be judicious, as that’s what we’re all about.”
This developing story has been updated.