2019: Congress Failed to Enact Legislation to Prohibit an Unauthorized Invasion of Venezuela

In 2019, President Trump said that American military intervention in Venezuela was “an option.” With more than fifty bipartisan co-sponsors, Congressman David Cicilline (D-RI) introduced H.R. 1004 an Act “Prohibiting Unauthorized Military Action in Venezuela.” Cicilline explained the need for the Bill’s enactment:[1]

·       “The conditions for unilateral Presidential military action have not been met: Congress has not declared war on Venezuela; there is not any existing statutory authorization that would allow for a military intervention in Venezuela; and Venezuela has not attacked the United States, its territories or possessions, or its armed forces. Although the Administration is well aware that they don’t have proper authorization to engage in a military engagement in Venezuela, they have continued the drumbeat of aggressive, saber-rattling rhetoric promoting military intervention as an option.”

On March 13, 2019 a Hearing on H.R. 1004 was held before the House of Representatives Committee on Foreign Affairs. One of the witnesses at the Hearing was Rebecca Bill Chavez who was a Senior Fellow at the Inter-American Dialogue. From 2013 until January 2017, she served as Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Western Hemisphere Affairs. Before that, Dr Chavez was a tenured professor at the United States Naval Academy. Dr Chavez testified:[1]

·       “An invasion of Venezuela would likely require between 100,000 and 150,000 U.S. troops over a long period of time under conditions of asymmetrical warfare. As a mountainous country twice the size of Iraq with multiple large urban areas, Venezuela would pose serious logistical challenges to an invading force. There would be thousands of civilian casualties. U.S. military intervention could create the need for a long-term occupation by setting the stage for prolonged low intensity conflict…..”

H.R. 1004 was not enacted into Law.

 

1.House of Representatives, Committee on Foreign Affairs, Hearing on H.R. 1004, Prohibiting Unauthorized Military Action in Venezuela Act, Serial No. 116-14, March 13, 2019.

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