Secretary of State Marco Rubio. ..was asked about the legal basis for the attack. He said it was the court ordered warrants for the arrests of President Nicolas Maduro and his wife on narco-terrorism charges. Rubio called the armed invasion “a law enforcement operation.” “It’s not a war against Venezuela,” he explained. It is a war against drug-trafficking organizations.
International law experts dispute the operation’s legality, citing in particular the U.N. Charter’s prohibition against the use of force unless in self-defense against an imminent threat or unless approved by the Security Council.
“Nearly 200 of our greatest Americans went downtown in Caracas,” Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth boasted afterwards. They were supported by 150 U.S. aircraft that transported the troops and bombed strategic sites. It was a bloody, violent clash, with an estimated 75 people killed, including 32 Cubans.
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While early polling reveals that Americans are equally split on invading Venezuela to arrest Maduro, public opinion is overwhelmingly opposed to any prolonged military presence on foreign soil. The consequences of these foreign interventions are not helping divert attention from domestic affordability problems as some had hoped. Congressional Republicans are worried they may lose control of both houses in the upcoming midterm elections, and that concern is obviously rattling the White House as well.
