Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) on Wednesday called for the Trump administration to divulge more details on why the United States is surging military assets near Venezuela’s coast.
Schumer said he wanted Secretary of State Marco Rubio to give all senators a classified briefing on President Donald Trump’s “military buildup and reported plans for military operations in Venezuela.” His comments come after the Trump administration attracted bipartisan criticism in October for not allowing Senate Democrats to attend a classified briefing regarding the Pentagon’s strikes on alleged drug boats in the region.
“The Trump administration has failed in their duty to consult with Congress,” the Senate minority leader said in a post to X. “The last thing Americans want right now is another endless war.”
Speculation is swirling that Trump could authorize military action in Venezuela as he targets drug cartels in the country that are sending narcotics into the U.S.
There are now approximately 15,000 service members in the Caribbean region, amounting to the largest buildup of U.S. troops in the area in decades. There have been efforts to revive several deactivated U.S. military bases in Latin America. And last week, the USS Gerald R. Ford Carrier Strike Group, the Navy’s newest and largest aircraft carrier, arrived in the region.
While Trump has publicly floated the possibility of land strikes, he has also kept the door open to negotiations, should Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro come to the table.
“We may be having some discussions with Maduro, and we’ll see how that turns out,” the president said Sunday. “They would like to talk.”
HOUSE REPUBLICAN WARNS OF POTENTIAL SABOTAGE TACTICS BY MADURO IN VENEZUELA
The Pentagon has already carried out over 20 military strikes on boats off the coast of South America suspected of carrying cartel members and narcotics. Strikes have killed around 7 dozen people whom the Trump administration believes to be “narco-terrorists” trafficking drugs into the U.S.
Earlier this week, the State Department said the Cartel de los Soles is being led by Maduro, and announced its intention to designate the group as a foreign terrorist organization, expanding the Trump administration’s options for how to target members.
