Rep. Omar’s Statement on Trump’s Unconstitutional Military Strike on Vessel in Caribbean

WASHINGTON—Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-MN) released the following statement following the unconstitutional military strike on a vessel in the Caribbean ordered by the Trump administration.

“I strongly condemn the Trump Administration’s lawless and reckless actions in the Southern Caribbean. Congress has not declared war on Venezuela, or Tren de Aragua, and the mere designation of a group as a terrorist organization does not give any President carte blanche to ignore Congress’s clear Constitutional authority on matters of war and peace. 

“From the video posted by the President and Secretary Rubio, it appears that US forces that were recently sent to the region in an escalatory and provocative manner were under no threat from the boat they attacked. There is no conceivable legal justification for this use of force. Unless compelling evidence emerges that they were acting in self-defense, that makes the strike a clear violation of international law.

“They’re now using the failed war on drugs to justify their egregious violation of international law. The U.S. posture towards the eradication of drugs has caused immeasurable damage across our hemisphere. It has led to massive forced displacement, environmental devastation, violence, and human rights violations. What it has not done is any damage whatsoever to narcotrafficking or to the cartels. It has been a dramatic, profound failure at every level. In Latin America, even right-wing Presidents acknowledge this is true. Trump and Rubio’s apparent solution, to make it even more militarized, is doomed to fail. Worse, it risks spiraling into the exact type of endless, pointless conflict that Trump supposedly opposes.”