VFP Condemns U.S. Actions in Venezuela

Veterans For Peace in Evansville condemns the U.S. invasion of Venezuela and kidnapping of President Maduro as an unprovoked act of irregular warfare on a sovereign nation.

The shifting pretenses for this action are smoke screens for imposing a regime change, to be paid for by the theft of Venezuela’s natural resources. Tellingly, our government apprised oil company magnates of the invasion before informing our own Congress.

This lawlessness began by targeting boats from Venezuela supposedly transporting methamphetamine and fentanyl. These drugs do not typically enter the U.S. via Venezuela, which helps to explain why our military obliterated these targets rather than employ interdiction, confiscation, and adjudication. In at least one such incident, our forces killed the flotsam-clinging survivors of an initial strike. We can only surmise this is because dead men tell no tales.

Now, our addled commander-in-chief is pushing the idea that we are performing a “law enforcement” operation, saving the people from the clutches a corrupt narco-trafficker. This, after issuing a full pardon to former Honduran president Hernández, who was convicted by a U.S. federal jury and sentenced to 45 years for trafficking more than 400 tons of cocaine bound for the U.S.

Meanwhile, the hawks are setting their sights on prizes throughout the western hemisphere, with Columbia, Cuba, Greenland, and others seen as future vassals in a new era of U.S. expansion and looting. And we can only wonder how our disregard for international law will embolden the imperial impulses of others, prompting further destabilization of international relations already strained by conflicts in Ukraine and Gaza, as well as by trade policies used as weapons.

The President’s actions demand a strong rebuke from we the people, our elected officials, and the courts. Absent this, we should expect ever-widening conflict, the loss of countless lives, and trillions of dollars once again wasted on the folly of war.