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By Sharon Zhang / Truthout
The vast majority of Americans say that the Trump administration hasn’t given proper explanation for potential military action in Venezuela and oppose the idea of strikes in the country, new polling finds as the U.S. builds up its military presence in the region.
New CBS/YouGov polling conducted late last week shows that 70 percent of Americans say that they would oppose the U.S. taking military action in Venezuela, with only 30 percent saying they support such an action.
Over three-quarters of Americans, 76 percent, say that the administration has not “clearly explained the U.S. position on military action in Venezuela.” The vast majority also say that President Donald Trump needs to provide an explanation, including 97 percent of Democrats, 86 percent of independents, and 64 percent of Republicans, the poll found.
These findings come despite the U.S. now having built up the largest military presence in Latin America in decades, with military planes and warships stationed off the coast of Venezuela.
The U.S. has killed at least 83 people in at least 21 strikes since September, according to counts of publicly reported strikes. It’s possible that the U.S. is carrying out further operations that it hasn’t disclosed, as Trump has authorized the CIA to carry out covert lethal operations in the country.
Most Americans say that Venezuela is either not a threat to the U.S., or only a minor threat, at 39 percent and 48 percent, respectively.
But the administration has been steadily escalating its campaign in Latin America, blowing past warnings they’re committing war crimes, concerns from members of Congress that officials are encroaching on their war powers, and even alarm from within the administration that the operation is illegal.
NBC reported last week that the senior military lawyer overseeing the strikes has said that the strikes are illegal, contrary to the administration’s claims. But his opinions were overruled by more senior officials, despite concerns that troops could be held liable for carrying out the boat strikes.
For weeks, U.S. officials have been floating the idea of carrying out strikes on Venezuela, likely with the goal of regime change. Various reports have said that such strikes are imminent, though no known operations have begun yet.
CBS and YouGov’s polling further found that three-quarters of Americans said that Trump needs congressional approval to carry out strikes within Venezuela.
This is true, too, of the boat strikes, experts have said, but the administration has ignored these warnings. A top Department of Justice lawyer has claimed that Trump has the authority to carry out the boat strikes regardless of Congress, saying that they do not qualify as “hostilities” that would trigger requirements under the War Powers Resolution.
Trump has been banging the war drum. In an interview with 60 Minutes on November 2, Trump said that he doesn’t think that the U.S. is going to war with Venezuela, but added that “they’ve been treating us very badly.”
He followed with a long list of complaints and unverified claims about the country, like that Venezuela “emptied their prisons” into the U.S. — a lie that the Trump administration has repeated numerous times in part to justify their immigration raids.
The poll additionally found that most Americans disapprove of Trump’s handling of immigration, at 55 percent, and believe that ICE is stopping more people than necessary, at 54 percent.
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Sharon Zhang
Sharon Zhang is a news writer at Truthout covering politics, climate and labor. Before coming to Truthout, Sharon had written stories for Pacific Standard, The New Republic, and more. She has a master’s degree in environmental studies. She can be found on Twitter: @zhang_sharon.