Virginia leaders share mixed reactions to US strike on Venezuela, capture of Maduro

RICHMOND, Va. (WRIC) -- Following the overnight strike by the United States on Venezuela, as announced by President Donald Trump on social media, Virginia leaders are sharing their reactions.

In the early hours on Saturday, the U.S. hit Venezuela with a reported "large-scale strike," announced by President Trump in a social media post hours after the attack.

Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, were reportedly captured and flown out of the country.

U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi said Maduro and Flores would face charges after an indictment in New York, according to reporting by the Associated Press.

In the morning on Saturday, Jan. 3, Senator Tim Kaine (D) shared a press release that called the attack "unauthorized" and harkened back to previous instances when the U.S. intervened in international affairs.

President Trump’s unauthorized military attack on Venezuela to arrest Maduro—however terrible he is—is a sickening return to a day when the United States asserted the right to dominate the internal political affairs of all nations in the Western Hemisphere. That history is replete with failures, and doubling down on it makes it difficult to make the claim with a straight face that other countries should respect the United States’ sovereignty when we do not do the same.

Where will this go next? Will the President deploy our troops to protect Iranian protesters? To enforce the fragile ceasefire in Gaza? To battle terrorists in Nigeria? To seize Greenland or the Panama Canal? To suppress Americans peacefully assembling to protest his policies? Trump has threatened to do all this and more and sees no need to seek legal authorization from people’s elected legislature before putting servicemembers at risk.

It is long past time for Congress to reassert its critical constitutional role in matters of war, peace, diplomacy and trade. My bipartisan resolution stipulating that we should not be at war with Venezuela absent a clear congressional authorization will come up for a vote next week. We’ve entered the 250th year of American democracy and cannot allow it to devolve into the tyranny that our founders fought to escape.” Kaine

In a press release, Senator Mark Warner (D), who serves as Vice Chairman of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, also criticized the strike and its possible consequences, highlighting the lack of Congressional approval, and condemning Maduro's previous actions as the leader of Venezuela.

Our Constitution places the gravest decisions about the use of military force in the hands of Congress for a reason. Using military force to enact regime change demands the closest scrutiny, precisely because the consequences do not end with the initial strike.

If the United States asserts the right to use military force to invade and capture foreign leaders it accuses of criminal conduct, what prevents China from claiming the same authority over Taiwan’s leadership? What stops Vladimir Putin from asserting similar justification to abduct Ukraine’s president? Once this line is crossed, the rules that restrain global chaos begin to collapse, and authoritarian regimes will be the first to exploit it.

None of this absolves Maduro. He is a corrupt authoritarian who has repressed his people, stolen elections, imprisoned political opponents, and presided over a humanitarian catastrophe that has forced millions of Venezuelans to flee. The Venezuelan people deserve democratic leadership, and the United States and the international community should have done far more, years ago, to press for a peaceful transition after Maduro lost a vote of his own citizens. But recognizing Maduro’s crimes does not give any president the authority to ignore the Constitution.

The hypocrisy underlying this decision is especially glaring. This same president recently pardoned former Honduran President Juan Orlando Hernández, who was convicted in a U.S. court on serious drug trafficking charges, including conspiring with narcotics traffickers while in office. Yet now, the administration claims that similar allegations justify the use of military force against another sovereign nation. You cannot credibly argue that drug trafficking charges demand invasion in one case, while issuing a pardon in another.

America’s strength comes from our commitment to the rule of law, democratic norms, and constitutional restraint. When we abandon those principles, even in the name of confronting bad actors, we weaken our credibility, endanger global stability, and invite abuses of power that will long outlast any single presidency. Warner

Attorney General Jason Miyares (R) applauded the strike in a social media post Saturday morning.

"Wonderful for the Venezuelan people to see the arrest of their socialist, narco-terrorist dictator Maduro. Before the socialists took power, Venezuela was one of the richest counties in Latin America. After years of ruin, it’s one of the poorest. #VenezuelaLibre," Miyares said in the post.

Democratic Congressman Eugene Vindman (Va.-07) released a statement condemning the strike through a press release, characterizing the action by the US as a violation of the Constitution due to a lack of approval by Congress.

Cindy and my thoughts are with our troops this morning and their families. We hope they come home safe. The U.S. military is a remarkable instrument that performs magnificently. The question is whether it will be a tool of conquest or a tool to defend American lives and values.

Let there be no mistake, President Trump has started a war in Venezuela, without any Congressional approval, and in violation of the Constitution.

Over the past 2 decades, we have learned the hard way that wars are easy to start and hard to finish. A plan rarely survives first contact. Having served in Iraq, I’ve seen this first hand.

Trump is wrong to start a war in Venezuela. It is not what the American people want, it is not putting America first, and it is not worth American blood and treasure. Vindman

8News has reached out to Governor Glenn Youngkin (R) regarding the strike. This article will be updated when additional information becomes available.

This is a developing story, stay with 8News for updates.