cross-posted from: https://news.abolish.capital/post/9526
New survey results show that Americans strongly oppose US military action against Venezuela as the Trump administration privately weighs options for land strikes against the South American country—as well as possible covert action targeting the government of President Nicolás Maduro.
The CBS News/YouGov survey, published on Sunday, found that 70% of Americans—including 91% of Democrats and 42% of Republicans—are against the “US taking military action in Venezuela,” and a majority don’t believe a direct attack on Venezuela would even achieve the Trump administration’s stated goal of reducing the flow of drugs to the United States.
The poll also found that a slim majority, 53%, support “using military force to attack boats suspected of bringing drugs into” the US, even as human rights groups and United Nations experts say such attacks—which have killed more than 80 people since early September—are grave violations of US and international law.
The survey data came amid reports that the Trump administration is set to launch “a potentially deadly new phase” of its campaign against Maduro’s government, which has responded to the US president’s threats and military buildup in the Caribbean with a large mobilization of troops and weaponry.
Citing two unnamed US officials, Reuters reported on Sunday that “covert operations would likely be the first part of the new action against Maduro.” The outlet quoted one anonymous official as saying Trump is “prepared to use every element of American power” to achieve his stated goals in the region.
On Monday, as the New York Times reported, the chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff is set to visit “Puerto Rico and one of the several Navy warships dispatched to the Caribbean Sea to combat drug trafficking as the Trump administration weighs the possibility of a broader military campaign against Venezuela.”
Gen. Dan Caine, the top US military officer, has “been a major architect of what the Pentagon calls Operation Southern Spear, the largest buildup of American naval forces in the Caribbean since the Cuban Missile Crisis and the blockade of Cuba in 1962,” the Times added.
While polling data has consistently shown that the US public opposes military intervention in Venezuela by significant margins, Republicans in Congress have thus far blocked action to prevent the Trump administration from attacking the country and bombing vessels in international waters without lawmakers’ approval.
Al Jazeera columnist Belén Fernández wrote Sunday that “it should come as no surprise by now that the president who campaigned on keeping the US out of wars and then promptly bombed Iran has now found another conflict in which to embroil the country.”
“And as is par for the course in US imperial belligerence, the rationale for aggression against Venezuela doesn’t hold water,” Fernández added. “For example, the Trump administration has strived to pin the blame for the fentanyl crisis in the US on Maduro. But there’s a slight problem—which is that Venezuela doesn’t even produce the synthetic opioid in question.”
Late last week, a group of House Democrats led by Seth Moulton of Massachusetts announced a new legislative effort aimed at preventing the Trump administration from attacking Venezuela without congressional authorization.
The bill, titled the No Unauthorized Force in Venezuela Act, would bar the White House from spending federal funds on military action against Venezuela absent specific congressional approval.
“We owe our service members clarity, legality, and leadership—not threats, not chaos, and not another unnecessary conflict,” said Moulton. “This legislation draws the line the president refuses to draw. It protects our troops, reasserts Congress’ constitutional role, and ensures we do not sleepwalk into another ill-advised war.”
From Common Dreams via This RSS Feed.
Eh, i think they oppose it in the abstract but if it actually popped off the consent manufacturing apparatus would kick into high gear and then most would decide to go along with it. Iraq made them a bit weary but Amerikkkans love war.
I think you can moralise a lot of them into negative feelings about it because of Palestine. If they’ve been a supporter of Palestine against Israel there’s no reason they shouldn’t be against the US invading a country, particularly on the track record of the US destroying literally every country they’ve “liberated” historically.
That and it’s really fucking hard to pretend you’re on the moral high ground over Russia and Ukraine while supporting your own invasion of other countries.
The landscape of recent events is very favourable to shaming anyone that would support it and calling them out for hypocrisy.
I’m gonna have to heavily disagree with you in the context of American holiday season 2025. Americans have a fundamentally material opposition because they can’t afford to distract themselves with neat affordable trinkets this year, so now they’re busy wondering why they’re living in such a rich country and feeling so poor. Across the political spectrum Americans view the military-industrial complex as a scam that funnels money from taxpayers to wealthy insiders. There’s almost a vomit reflex at the proposal of sending more money overseas. Even my most diehard neo-com family members are saying, “America only”, now.
I think we’ve gone beyond concent manufacturing now, short paying everyone for it. "You said nothing bad about the war in Venezuela here’s your “$5000 colonizer check”.
No, I think this is just trump being trump, and the GOP is finally ready to let him hang himself and become the fall guy for the party. It’ll be back to neoliberalism, just slightly worse than it was before, and there will be bipartisan celebration that “we saved democracy” together from the bad orange man.
Maybe you’re right but I’ve been lurking some lib forums and you’re starting to see people slowly warm up to the idea of invading Vuvuzela. No one is to the point of actively endorsing it but there a lot of “well the Iraq war was bad but I doubt this will be the same quagmire cuz Maduro had not popular support. I STILL DON’T SUPPORT TRUMP INVADING BUT I THINK IT WILL GO OKAY PROBABLY!!!”
Hawks are gonna hawk even when the cheeto is in power and Amerikkkans still haven’t killed the hawk in their brains.
Huh, sounds really weird and out of touch with normal people.
“It will go okay probably” what does this even mean and who is supposed to be convinced? No matter the outcome, it’s a huge financial liability that America can’t afford and everyone knows it. Americans are sick of debt and inflation.
“well the Iraq war was bad but I doubt this will be the same quagmire cuz Maduro had not popular support” Americans don’t give a shit about Maduro, most Americans couldn’t even tell you who Maduro is. It would take a 9/11 level event to get people to care.
Take everything you read online with a sack of salt. I fully agree they will try to manufacture consent, they will try it with lots of cheap internet bots, I just don’t agree that it will be effective, unless they do something drastic. War in Venezuela will almost certainly be political suicide.
nah , americans don’t love war anymore ,stuff like abu ghraib killed that
Have you met Americana? Most don’t even know what Abu Ghraib is, and a solid 30-40% of the ones who do probably think it was “based”, and guess how much cultural and institutional power that 30-40% has. The ones who were actually appalled by it are mostly demoralized and scared to do anything.