Trump administration escalates tensions with Venezuela
Some senators fearful of an impending war with the South American country
Photo courtesy of Hossein Zohrevand/Wikimedia Commons
Following multiple strikes on boats in the Caribbean and East Pacific that the Trump administration alleges have been harboring and transporting drugs, executive war powers have been subject to serious contention in Congress. This past week on Thursday, Nov. 6, a joint resolution to “block the use of U.S. Armed Forces to engage in hostilities within or against Venezuela,” per a Senate press release, was defeated in Congress 49-51, according to The Hill.
The resolution was introduced by Senator Tim Kaine (D-VA) alongside Senators Rand Paul (R-KY) and Adam Schiff (D-CA) in response to reports from ABC News and New York Times that President Trump authorized CIA intervention and potential land strikes in Venezuela.
ABC News wrote that Trump confirmed this reporting in a press conference at the Oval Office, stating his justification for this directive as such: “I authorized for two reasons, really. Number one, they have emptied their prisons into the United States of America…And the other thing are drugs, we have a lot of drugs coming in from Venezuela, and a lot of the Venezuelan drugs come in through the sea. So, you get to see that, but we're going to stop them by land also.”
This most recent escalation comes in the wake of the U.S. military’s execution of 19 strikes on vessels coming from South America since Sept. 2. CNN reports that these strikes have killed a total of 76 people as of Nov. 10 under administrative claims of an “ability to engage in lethal strikes without judicial review due to a classified Justice Department finding,” raising alarms about the legality of such action.
A timeline of the attacks compiled by ABC News cites the commentary of President Trump and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, who have maintained that the strikes are specifically targeting “terrorists,” claiming that those killed had been attempting to traffic narcotics. Reports from the administration included in this timeline have implicated Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua—designated a “foreign terrorist organization” by the president in a January executive order, according to PBS News—with the claim that “they were operating under the control of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro.”
These attacks are exceptional in a number of ways. Many members of Congress are concerned that they constitute a violation of the War Powers Act of 1973, whose express purpose is to “insure that the collective judgment of both the Congress and the President will apply to the introduction of the Armed Forces of the United States in hostilities,” given that the president has thus far been acting without congressional authorization.
Secondly, the use of force against alleged drug shipments is unprecedented, according to ABC News, who note that “Past administrations have relied on law enforcement to interdict drug shipments,” rather than employ military action. They, along with multiple other news sources including Al-Jazeera, PBS News, and CNN, have observed that the administration has yet to provide evidence to its claims alleging possible gang affiliation and criminal intent of those aboard the destroyed vessels.
United States military presence in the region, in addition to the strikes, is also significantly increasing. Another article published by The Hill reports that the U.S. military has been “deploying warships, surveillance planes and fighter aircraft as it continues to blow up alleged drug-trafficking boats in the waters around South America,” and adds that Attorney General Pam Bondi has said, “there is ‘no doubt’ that Trump wants to topple Maduro’s regime.”
There is yet further evidence of a desire in Washington to intervene in Venezuelan leadership. The U.S. government is currently offering a bounty for President Maduro’s arrest, which was raised over the summer by the Trump administration to “$50 million under the Narcotics Reward Program,” according to a press release from Secretary of State Marco Rubio. The statement adds that the U.S. government “does not recognize him as the President of Venezuela” due to contention over the results of the 2024 election.
In the wake of these escalations, those voicing their dissent in Congress fear a war with Venezuela. In a Senate briefing posted on Tim Kaine’s website, co-sponsor of the resolution Adam Schiff is quoted saying, “The Trump administration has made it clear they may launch military action inside Venezuela’s borders, and won't stop at boat strikes in the Caribbean.” He goes on to add, “In recent weeks we have seen increasingly concerning movements and reporting that undermine claims that this is merely about stopping drug smugglers. Congress has not authorized military force against Venezuela. And we must assert our authority to stop the United States from being dragged—intentionally or accidentally—into full-fledged war in South America.”