As Trump raises pressure on Venezuela, senators hope to lower heat

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By Patricia Zengerle

WASHINGTON (Reuters) -Democratic and Republican U.S. senators announced plans on Friday to force a vote on a resolution to prevent military action against Venezuela without congressional authorization, seeking to rein in President Donald Trump’s escalation of pressure on President Nicolas Maduro’s government.

Senator Tim Kaine of Virginia, who is sponsoring the war powers resolution with fellow Democrat Adam Schiff of California and Republican Senator Rand Paul of Kentucky, said he was responding to the repeated U.S. strikes on boats off Venezuela.

There have been at least five such strikes, which the Trump administration says are part of a campaign against drug traffickers. They have killed at least 27 people.

Kaine noted the U.S. constitutional requirement that only Congress, not the president, authorizes war, except for short-term strikes.

The Trump administration’s campaign in the southern Caribbean has lasted for weeks. Trump has also dangled the possibility of land attacks against Venezuela. And he disclosed on Wednesday that he authorized the Central Intelligence Agency to conduct covert operations in Venezuela.

“It’s clear there’s no congressional authorization for this action,” Kaine told reporters.

The strikes have led some legal experts to question whether the U.S. is violating international law. Colombia, which has condemned the strikes, said one of the vessels was Colombian with Colombian citizens aboard. The Trump administration called that assertion “baseless.”

The surprise announcement on Thursday that the admiral who heads U.S. military forces in Latin America will step down at the end of the year added to questions about the campaign.

Venezuela has asked the United Nations Security Council to determine that the strikes are illegal, according to a letter seen by Reuters on Thursday.

‘NARCOTERRORISTS’

The Trump administration argues it is fighting Venezuelan narcoterrorists, making the strikes legitimate.

Members of the U.S. Congress from both parties have complained they have received scant information, such as who was killed, evidence of trafficking, the buildup’s cost or the administration’s long-term Latin American strategy.

“It’s a complete black hole,” Kaine said.

He also said the administration has not explained why it needed to blow up the vessels, killing everyone on board, rather than intercepting them. Trump on Wednesday said interdicting drug boats was “politically correct” and had not stopped the drug trade.

The Senate blocked a similar resolution last week by a narrow 51-48 vote, mostly along party lines, with two Republicans backing the resolution and one Democrat opposing it. Trump’s fellow Republicans said the president was merely keeping a campaign promise to attack drug cartels.

Kaine said he hoped the new resolution, to bar military action against or within Venezuela without congressional approval, would garner a few more Republican votes.

“The military is not to be used just so we can kill anyone we want anywhere in the world, as long as the president has put them on a secret list,” Kaine said.

“I may be optimistic on this, but I think that there will be a point where more (Republicans) will say, ‘Hold on a second,'” he added.

(Reporting by Patricia Zengerle; Editing by Lincoln Feast.)