At the beginning of the year, President Donald Trump announced that he launched strikes against the country of Venezuela and captured their sitting President, Nicolás Maduro. The strikes themselves killed at least forty people, according to the Venezuelan authorities. This took place after a series of escalating attacks against people off the coast of Venezuela in which over one hundred people were killed.

These escalating acts of war demand a call for both an immediate halt to any further violence targeting Venezuela and a full investigation and accountability from Congress through the assertion of their Article I war powers, where it is clearly outlined that they have the power to declare war and “make rules concerning capture on land and water.” With the Trump Administration threatening to launch further military actions against Venezuela if it “isn’t “run” the way they’d like it,” as well as threatening military action against Greenland, Columbia, Cuba, and Mexico after launching strikes in Nigeria, and Iran, Congress must halt any material support for further violence in Venezuela through the assertion of its role as a coequal branch of government.  

Furthermore, we demand a full investigation concerning the legality of the recent acts of war against Venezuela, with a full accounting of the process involved in ordering and carrying out these deadly military actions without Congressional authorization. The Trump Administration has put forth a number of explanations for these acts of war that violate international law while offering none that justify the loss of life we’ve seen so far or the lack of any Congressional mandate to do so.

In light of these actions, we demand that Congress halt all military action against Venezuela and launch a full investigation into our actions concerning the country.