The Trump administration’s unlawful military attack on Venezuela and its violation of Venezuela’s national sovereignty must be widely condemned, the directors of the Center for Economic and Policy Research said today. They warned that the US military strikes on Venezuelan territory early this morning, and the reported kidnapping by US forces of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro and First Lady Celia Flores, are illegal under international law, were conducted without congressional authorization or notification, and set a dangerous precedent.
While US administration officials initially described this morning’s attack as a law enforcement operation, President Trump’s statements earlier today – where he stated that the United States would “run Venezuela” and that US companies would run the oil infrastructure – suggest that the goal is regime change and a long-term US occupation, much like the US invasion and occupation of Iraq in 2003. If Trump’s assertions reflect a concrete plan, the United States has now embarked on an unauthorized and unprovoked open war against a country that poses no plausible threat to security. American nationalist.
“This is an unlawful assault on a country that poses no security threat to the United States, and Trump himself has repeatedly said he is going after the country’s oil, the world’s largest proven reserve,” the CEPR co-director said. Mark Weisbrot He said. “Only one in five Americans said in the most recent poll that he supports such military intervention. Most people do not like it when our government makes plans, threats, and takes actions that make it look like a criminal enterprise. Trump has shown time and time again that he has no respect for international law.”
according to Media reportsThe US military attack on Caracas was carried out without first notifying Congress, including members of the Senate Armed Services Committee. The Trump administration has not made a case before the US Congress for waging war against Venezuela, and “senior Trump officials have previously testified before Congress that the United States is not seeking to overthrow Maduro and will seek congressional authorization for any ground operations in Venezuela.” Axios notes. Various members of Congress are Contact To vote on the new War Powers Resolution.
The Trump administration has offered a shifting pretext for its aggression toward Venezuela, focusing on alleged drug trafficking by Maduro. But the administration did not provide any evidence for its widely circulated allegations Expose and reject By current and former American officials and experts.
It is unclear what the next steps are in the US attack on Venezuela, and the potential consequences are even murkier. Venezuelan officials have reported civilian and military deaths, although the extent of casualties remains unclear. President Trump today He said “We will run” Venezuela, he said, and suggested he might order more military strikes inside Venezuela. Him too He threatened Possible American action within Mexico, and to caution Colombian President Gustavo Petro is ‘watching his ass’. Currently, Vice President Delcy Rodriguez and other senior officials of the Maduro administration remain in their positions.
Heads of state and other world leaders He was condemned United States actions in Venezuela, including those of Brazil Lula da SilvaMexican President Claudia SheinbaumColombian President Gustavo PietroAnd government South Africaamong other things. And many others, including the Spanish president Pedro SanchezThey call for calm. Prominent figures from across the political spectrum, such as Rüderich Kieswetter in Germany on the right, and the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom on the right. Jeremy Corbyn On the left, France Marine Le Pen On the far right, they condemned the United States’ violation of Venezuela’s national sovereignty.
issued by the United Nations statement Saying that UN Secretary-General António Guterres “is deeply concerned about the lack of respect for the rules of international law” and “calls for[ed] He called on all actors in Venezuela to participate in a comprehensive dialogue, in full respect for human rights and the rule of law. As Guillaume Long, senior researcher at CEPR, former Ecuadorian foreign minister and former ambassador to the United Nations, said, He noticedThe actions of the United States violate Article 2(4) and the integrity of Chapter VII of the United Nations Charter.
Today’s attack on Venezuela and kidnapping of President Maduro and First Lady Flores is the latest in a series of U.S. regime change efforts in Venezuela over more than 20 years. State Department and CIA documents open and the United States’ role in the short-lived 2002 coup against then-President Hugo Chavez. This failed coup was followed by the closure of the oil industry devastating Venezuela’s economy, and then the referendum to impeach the president in 2004, supported by the United States, which voters defeated in an overwhelming majority. The first Trump administration publicly attempted to remove Maduro by recognizing right-wing politician Juan Guaido as president, who has publicly called for the military overthrow of Maduro.
Beginning in 2017, the first Trump administration imposed increasingly devastating economic sanctions against Venezuela, which were largely maintained during the Biden administration. These factors were the main driver of the country’s economic collapse and ensuing mass outmigration, as Francisco Rodriguez, a senior research fellow at CEPR, has shown in several peer-reviewed articles. studies. 2019 CEPR a report Mark Weisbrot and Columbia University economist Jeffrey Sachs found that US economic sanctions led to more than tens of thousands of deaths in Venezuela in 2017-2018 alone. Rodriguez Estimates US sanctions fueled an economic collapse equivalent to three periods of the Great Depression.
“President Trump’s actions are shocking and dangerous, and a complete betrayal of his campaign promise to keep the United States out of unnecessary wars. If, as his recent statements indicate, Trump continues to intervene militarily in Venezuela, the consequences could be catastrophic for Venezuelans, and potentially for American military service members, who risk being drawn into a deadly and protracted war. Other countries in the region should also be deeply concerned, as it has become clear that Trump’s so-called corollary to the doctrine Monroe involves the United States asserting “dominance throughout Latin America by spreading vague claims of ‘narcoterrorism’ as a fig leaf for continued aggression,” CEPR Director for International Policy Alexander Maine He said.
CEPR is tracking developments in the Trump administration’s aggression toward Venezuela and other countries in the region, and extrajudicial killings of people in the Caribbean and Pacific, and will continue to do so. here.
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