BOSTON — Democratic lawmakers are criticizing the Trump Administration for capturing Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro and his wife, before President Trump announced the United States will “run” the South American country.
Massachusetts Rep. Stephen Lynch says he was caught off guard Saturday morning when news broke of the attack and capture.
“This came as a surprise. We had been reassured by the administration through Secretary Marco Rubio that there would be no military strikes against Venezuela or Maduro unless they came back to speak to Congress before doing so,” Lynch told Boston 25. “It’s a terrible decision to proceed without coordinating with the United States Congress because this is military action.”
Congressman Lynch also disagrees with the president about his comments on the future of Venezuela and the United States taking over the country.
“I think he’s going to face some serious opposition in Congress, at least I hope so. I’m not going to vote fund any takeover of Venezuela while we are cutting Medicaid here in Massachusetts on behalf of our own citizens. I think there are enough Republican House members that we can overturn any decision to take over and spend billions of dollars rebuilding Venezuela.”
Lynch said Maduro was someone who should be brought to justice, but he worries about what the long-term play is. This military action reminded him of other affairs America has gotten into overseas in the past.
“Using the military under the guise of exporting democracy hasn’t worked. You don’t export democracy through the defense department. We learned that in Iraq. We learned that in Afghanistan,” Lynch said.
Lynch says Democrats plan to meet on Sunday to come up with a plan to oppose the U.S. taking over Venezuela for any period of time.
On Saturday evening, about 200 people gathered on Boston Common to protest what happened in Venezuela. People held signs, flags, and chanted together.
They called out Democratic and Republican presidents who have sent troops overseas after a regime change.
“You can have any perspective you want on Maduro and the internal politics of Venezuela. At the end of the day, taking that kind of intervention is an illegal approach and is going to only make a situation that people feel like is not great, even worse,” the Co-Chair of Boston DSA Bonnie Jin said. “For so long we’ve seen our country participate in endless wars oversees harming working people not only abroad but here at home.”
The group marched through the streets after a ninety-minute protest with multiple speakers.
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