Congress has been debating the next steps regarding Venezuela. Nicolás Maduro, the president before his seizure by the U.S. military, currently faces major criminal charges and international investigations in three main areas: large‑scale drug trafficking (“narco‑terrorism”), weapons offenses, and alleged crimes against humanity.
U.S. federal prosecutors indicted Maduro on charges of conspiring with terrorist organizations to traffic in cocaine for political power, using his government position to cover the drug trafficking and to launder the proceeds, and political corruption arising from these actions. The International Criminal Court and the Argentine Federal Court have both accused Maduro of crimes against humanity including torture, sexual violence, arbitrary detention, inhumane treatment, and killings.
Reactions in Latin America were not uniform. The Community of Latin American and Caribbean States called an emergency meeting but was not able to come to an agreement on a response. Mexico, Brazil, Honduras, Cuba, Nicaragua, and Chile wanted a strong statement of condemnation of the United States for unacceptable intervention. Argentina was joined by the Dominican Republic, Paraguay, Peru, Bolivia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, El Salvador, Panama, and Trinidad and Tobago in supporting U.S. actions as justified reaction to a criminal regime.
Congress has discussed limiting further U.S. military action, shaping sanctions and oil policy, and stepping in as the executive branch considers further actions in Venezuela. So far, there has been no consensus and no clear path. The executive branch, on the other hand, has a clear message: “The stunning U.S. military operation to capture Venezuelan dictator and notorious narco-trafficker Nicolas Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, was a victory for U.S. national security and the Venezuelan people. While the pair await trial, the Trump administration and Congress have an opportunity to end the threat the Chavista regime continues to pose to the United States and facilitate Venezuela’s transition from a repressive, socialist dictatorship aligned with China, Cuba, Iran, and Russia to a stable, democratic U.S. partner, ” as the FDD puts it.
Where is Puerto Rico in all this?
Howard Hills, author of Citizens Without A State, wrote an opinion piece in the Pacific Island Times characterizing the military build up in Puerto Rico and the territorial government’s brisk support as a sign that Puerto Rico is an essential strategic partner to the federal government.
“While Congress deliberates on the next steps to restore sovereignty and democracy for the people of Venezuela,” he wrote, “Puerto Rico’s governor, Jenniffer González-Colón, is serving on the front line of civilian leadership support for the U.S. liberation of that nation.”
“González-Colón, who was elected governor in 2024, is a former member of the U.S. House of Representatives who long opposed Nicolas Maduro’s criminal junta. Puerto Rico is now the hub of major missions critical to Operation Southern Spear,” Hills continued. “As the elected leader of 3.2 million U.S. citizens in the territory, the governor of America’s last large territory is proud that her constituents enlist in our country’s armed forces at a per capita rate higher than that of most states. For 128 years, the American flag has flown over Puerto Rico, home to more U.S. citizens than 17 states, and strategically located in the heart of the Caribbean, next door to Cuba…The fall of Maduro makes it possible for restorative democratization of Venezuela to begin, and has shown clearly that a strong Puerto Rico makes the Americas safer and stronger from the Atlantic coast east and from Pacific coast west east to the west of the Western Hemisphere.”
The U.S. actions in Venezuela are controversial, nationally and internationally. Nonetheless, they show the strategic value of Puerto Rico for the United States. A strong, loyal U.S. territory made the military action possible. The United States would be weaker without Puerto Rico — and will be stronger when Puerto Rico is a state.
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