NEW YORK, CMC- Caribbean-American Democratic Congresswoman Yvette D. Clarke on Saturday strongly condemned what she described as President Donald Trump’s “unauthorized” military strikes in Venezuela and the military’s capture of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro.
Clarke, the daughter of Jamaican immigrants, who represents the 9th Congressional District in Brooklyn, New York, told the Caribbean Media Corporation (CMC) that Trump acted without congressional authorization in conducting military strikes in Venezuela, and forcefully and unilaterally causing “regime change by seizing President Nicolás Maduro.
“In a brazen affront to the rule of law and the US Constitution and without any rational consideration of the grave consequences that will inevitably follow, in the dead of night, Donald Trump has plunged the United States into yet another dangerous foreign entanglement by unleashing direct military strikes upon Venezuela’s capital and capturing President Nicolás Maduro and his wife,” said Clarke, who also chairs the Congressional Black Caucus (CBC).
“For years, Maduro’s authoritarian rule has oppressed Venezuelans and weakened their country. He was a despot with no regard for his own nation. His people have endured extreme hardship, political unrest, uncertainty, and instability under his leadership — so much so that many took great risks to seek asylum behind our borders,” she added. “However, this is not a case of the ends justifying the means.
“Despite this military operation and considering Donald Trump’s comments in its aftermath, it has become crystal clear that toppling Maduro for narco-trafficking was far from the primary reason the administration engaged militarily with Venezuela,” Clarke continued. “This reckless and non-congressionally sanctioned regime change was driven not by national security, but by the pursuit of oil riches. This action has no place in US foreign policy. It is an illegal and illegitimate doctrine of extreme aggression sanctioned solely by the executive branch.”
The congresswoman noted that since the Trump administration first initiated strikes in the Caribbean Sea, off the coast of Venezuela, under the guise of averting narco-trafficking, “Americans have overwhelmingly opposed these illegal military actions and have rightly already rejected this unhinged escalation.”
She said Trump “lacked both the righteousness and the constitutional respect to bring his war before Congress.
“Had he done so, I would have voted no,” she declared. “This impulsive interventionism does not make Americans safer; it leaves our global reputation in tatters and further destabilizes an already volatile region and our South American and Caribbean relations.
“Worse still, Donald Trump has now threatened a lasting US occupation of Venezuela and refuses to rule out a significant presence of American troops on the ground,” Clarke added. “The Venezuelan people deserve their chance at freedom. They do not wish to substitute their dictator with America’s.
“The Trump administration’s actions today will only serve to embolden and implicitly endorse our adversaries to carry out their own military aggressions against sovereign nations, eroding international norms and the rule of law,” she continued. “They have also paved the way for further interventions by Donald Trump and his enablers.”
Clarke warned that Trump’s “imperial pursuits will not end with Venezuela.
“If left unchecked, more illegal military aggressions loom just over our horizon,” she said. “They will, undoubtedly, come at great cost to American lives, resources, and moral standing.”
The CBC, under Clarke’s leadership, also said separately that Trump’s decision to bypass Congress and conduct a military operation to capture Maduro and bring him to the United States to stand trial is “a grave and illegal abuse of power.
“It is also indefensible that President Trump would choose to funnel taxpayer dollars into unauthorized military action in Venezuela for the expressed interest of oil, rather than addressing the urgent needs of millions of Americans struggling with rising health care costs,” the CBC said.
The CBC added that Trump’s stated intention to assume control over Venezuela is “wholly unacceptable, calling on the administration, without hesitation, to provide comprehensive briefings to the Gang of Eight, as well as to all Members of the House and Senate.”
The “Gang of Eight” (“G8”) in the US Congress refers to a small, bipartisan group of top-ranking leaders and intelligence committee chairs who obtain sensitive classified briefings from the president and his administration, ensuring crucial national security information is shared while restricting access to only essential legislators.
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