Over night last night, President Trump invaded the sovereign nation of Venezuela and kidnapped that nation’s president and his wife.
This was done without the approval of Congress, under the guise of the 1973 War Powers Resolution. The Trump regime argues that they need to do this because Venezuela has been systematically sending deadly and illegal drugs to the US, thereby conducting a guerrilla war against the American People.
This would normally be a police matter, not an invasion. Even in the best support of Trump’s argument, it still does not warrant an invasion of Venezuela.
But worse, Trump has, since his inauguration, ignored and violated the spirit of the US Constitution that he and so many Americans have taken a solemn oath to uphold and defend.
His argument that he is working under the auspices of the 1973 War Powers Resolution fails because he is not defending the USA but rather directly attacking, invading, and taking control of a foreign nation. The 1973 War Powers Resolution was clearly meant to allow the immediate defence of the USA in the case of an attack.
Even if you agree the Venezuelan government has been sending these drugs to the USA, it has been doing so for some time and this is not an immediate emergency. The situation fails the spirit of the War Powers Resolution. The invasion itself is not in the spirit or letter of this law.
Let’s take a look:
1973 War Powers Resolution
What does the War Powers Resolution actually say? You can read it here: https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/COMPS-1508/pdf/COMPS-1508.pdf
It begins, after establishing the title, at Section 2, defining the purpose and policy of the Resolution:
It is the purpose of this joint resolution to fulfill the intent of the framers of the Constitution of the United States and insure that the collective judgment of both the Congress and the President will apply to the introduction of United States Armed Forces into hostilities, or into situations where imminent involvement in hostilities is clearly indicated by the circumstances, and to the continued use of such forces in hostilities
50 U.S.C. 1541(a)
or in such situations.
I think it can be argued that there was no “collective judgment of both the Congress and the President” in this case. It was unilaterally the command of the President. The verdict: Clear violation of the Purpose and Policy of the War Powers Resolution.
The constitutional powers of the President as Commander-in-Chief to introduce United States Armed Forces into hostilities, or into situations where imminent involvement in hostilities is clearly indicated by the circumstances, are exercised only pursuant to (1) a declaration of war, (2) specific statutory authorization, or (3) a national emergency created by attack upon the United States, its territories or possessions, or its armed forces.
This is section 2(c) of the Resolution. This situation does not seem to be in pursuit of a declaration of war, a statute authority, nor an emergency created by some sudden attack. The President had no reason NOT to pursue these things BEFORE the invasion.
The President in every possible instance shall consult with Congress before introducing United States Armed Forces into hostilities or into situations where imminent involvement in hostilities is clearly indicated by the circumstances, and after every such introduction shall consult regularly with the Congress until United States Armed Forces are no longer engaged in hostilities or have been removed from such situations.
Did the President even make an attempt to consult with Congress before the hostilities? I think it is clear he did not.
The rest of the Resolution talks about required reporting by the President and what Congress must to in order to approve continued use of the Armed Forces.
So I think it is clear here that the 1973 War Powers Act has been violated both in spirit (50 USC 1541(a) ) and in letter (50 USC 1542).
An Act of War
The invasion of Venezuela was an Act of War.
- (4) the term “act of war” means any act occurring in the course of—
- (A) declared war;
- (B) armed conflict, whether or not war has been declared, between two or more nations; or
- (C) armed conflict between military forces of any origin;
War was not declared (the President of the US is not allowed to and the Venezuelan government did not). But the invasion does meet the definitions B and C. It WAS an Act of War.
International Terrorism
But worse, the stated reasons for the invasion strongly imply removing Venezuela’s President Maduro from power. This makes their invasion, by US law, also International Terrorism:
- (1) the term “international terrorism” means activities that—
- (A) involve violent acts or acts dangerous to human life that are a violation of the criminal laws of the United States or of any State, or that would be a criminal violation if committed within the jurisdiction of the United States or of any State;
- (B) appear to be intended
- (i) to intimidate or coerce a civilian population;
- (ii) to influence the policy of a government by intimidation or coercion; or
- (iii) to affect the conduct of a government by mass destruction, assassination, or kidnapping; and
- (C) occur primarily outside the territorial jurisdiction of the United States, or transcend national boundaries in terms of the means by which they are accomplished, the persons they appear intended to intimidate or coerce, or the locale in which their perpetrators operate or seek asylum;
I think with the abduction (arrest) of Maduro and his wife, this meets all the key points.
Oil and Fascism
In the aftermath of the invasion and kidnapping, President Trump indicated he would be working with US based oil companies to help transition Venezuela to new leadership. More details can be found here.
Wikipedia defines Fascism as such:
Fascism […] is a far-right, authoritarian, and ultranationalist political ideology and movement that rose to prominence in early-20th-century Europe.[1][2][3] Fascism is characterized by support for a dictatorial leader, centralized autocracy, militarism, forcible suppression of opposition, belief in a natural social hierarchy, subordination of individual interests for the perceived interest of the nation or race, and strong regimentation of society and the economy.
Let’s look closer, shall we?
- Far-right
- Authoritarian
- Ultranationalist
- Political ideology
- Movement
Characterized by:
- Support for a dictatorial leader
- Centralized autocracy
- Militarism
- Forcible suppression of opposition
- Belief in natural social hierarchy
- Subordination of individual interests for the perceived interest of the nation or race
- Strong regimentation of society and economy
Whether you believe we are headed in that direction, the integration of economy and government has long been a major aspect of fascism, The involvement of US oil companies in the re-structuring of the Venezuela government is a clear entry of corporate influence in government to a level Mussolini would be proud of. At the very best, it is a government hand out to big corporations, a corruption of democratic principles.
What Now?
Right now, President Trump has the cult-like support of most of the Republican Party in the US, which is the majority in both houses of Congress. While this is likely to change during the next congressional elections, it means that if anything is to be done now, it must involve pulling Republican support from the actions Trump has been taking. We need to find and exploit the dividing line between Republicans who truly support the United States, the US Constitution, and the People, from those who blindly follow Donald Trump.
.I think if you’ve been following the Trump Administration, in any way, that he is well on his way to another impeachment, and this time it needs to stick.
The first thing to do is to contact your House Representatives. I’ve created templates you can use. If your representative is a Republican or if your representative is a Democrat. You can find out who your representative is here.
I also made templates to ask for support from your Democratic Senator or your Republican Senator.
Though these templates are formatted for physical paper letters, the wording can be used in emails or similar correspondence. Do feel free to re-word these in your own voice to have the greatest impact.
I cannot stress the need to keep up the pressure on this. The Trump Administration needs to know the People are against these unconstitutional and illegal actions and they need to hear it every day, all day.
I don’t want to think of what life will be like when they fully remove our Constitution and create the fascist state they seem to be working to make. Please help me prevent it while we can.