By Sharon Zhang
This text was initially revealed by Truthout
Many U.S. lawmakers have remained mum in regards to the assault on Venezuela, regardless of worldwide condemnation.
Rep. Ro Khanna (D-California) has referred to as on Congress to maneuver to say its battle powers “every single day this month” to cease President Donald Trump from invading extra international locations, together with the six he has both threatened or attacked simply prior to now three weeks.
In a put up on X, Khanna mentioned, “As a response to the unlawful strikes in Venezuela, Congress should pressure votes and debate every single day this month on Conflict Energy Resolutions” geared toward stopping invasions of Cuba, Colombia, Greenland, Nigeria, Panama, and Iran.
Within the two days following the Trump administration’s bombardment of Caracas and kidnapping of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro, Trump has brazenly threatened 5 of those international locations. He advised that he would observe by on his fantasy of annexing Greenland, threatened Mexico and Colombia with comparable army operations below the guise of ending drug trafficking in a fashion just like his abduction of Maduro, and mentioned that Cuba is “able to fall.”
Trump additionally repeated his threats to Iran, after saying on Reality Social final week that the U.S. is “locked and loaded” and ready to assault the nation in response to current stories of protest suppression. On Monday, he signed a hat for Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-South Carolina) that learn “Make Iran Nice Once more.”
In the meantime, on Christmas day, the Trump administration bombed Nigeria, after beforehand threatening to enter the nation “guns-a-blazing” over a manufactured and unproven proper wing narrative about Christian persecution.
“It’s time for Congress to get up & do our job,” Khanna mentioned.
Maduro’s abduction and the bombardment of Venezuela, which Venezuelan officers say killed a minimum of 80 folks, has been roundly condemned as a dire violation of worldwide legislation. Some lawmakers have additionally criticized the administration for overstepping congress’s authority to conduct acts of battle, in violation of home legislation.
Axios stories that Rep. Jared Huffman (D-California) was one in every of a number of lawmakers to carry up impeachment this weekend, saying: “We’re in twenty fifth Modification territory now.”
Like Khanna, different Democrats have urged fellow lawmakers to say Congress’s battle powers.
“The American folks didn’t ask for this act of battle to result in regime change in Venezuela — nor did Congress authorize it,” mentioned Sen. Chris Van Hollen (D-Maryland) in an announcement. “This isn’t about demolishing a dictatorship… That is about attempting to seize Venezuela’s oil for Trump’s billionaire buddies.”
“Congress should instantly cross a Conflict Powers Decision to finish this unlawful army operation and reassert its constitutional obligations,” mentioned Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vermont) in an announcement after the assault on Saturday. “That is rank imperialism. It recollects the darkest chapters of U.S. interventions in Latin America, which have left a horrible legacy. It’ll and ought to be condemned by the democratic world.”
Nonetheless, many Democrats have demurred, with some even expressing help for the motion. “I believe it appears weak” to sentence the assault, one unnamed Home Democrat informed Axios. “When you don’t acknowledge when there’s a win for our nation, then you definately lose all credibility.”
The dearth of a powerful response from Democrats could also be because of the comparatively mum response from its leaders. Home Minority Chief Hakeem Jeffries started his assertion in response to the assault by calling Maduro “a legal and authoritarian dictator,” and went on to criticize the administration for not briefing Congress in regards to the assault.
Senate Minority Chief Chuck Schumer (D-New York) additionally started his assertion by calling Maduro an “illegitimate dictator.” He mentioned that the motion was “reckless,” referred to as for a congressional briefing, and in an interview later, mentioned that “the American individuals are scratching their heads” about his threats to different international locations.’
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