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We must use our strongest words and strongest actions to push back against the illegal, unconstitutional action of President Donald Trump and his team in initiating acts of war against Venezuela. They did so without the constitutionally required congressional authorization, also violating international laws and treaties that plunge us into a foreign commitment of enormous scope and potential costs in life and treasure without any clear plan.
The faults of Nicolas Maduro and his regime are not the issue. The integrity of our democracy is. I see this as just one more giant step in the attempt to consolidate authoritarian and dictatorial powers of precisely the sort our ancestors fought and died to escape with the American Revolution and the establishment of our Constitution.
Eighteen months ago, anyone predicting the train of events that has led us to this likely would have been viewed as hysterical. But now it is clear that the train is moving full force ahead. It is aimed at a consolidated, extremely corrupt regime bent on making profit by extracting resources in any way it can. And the questions about what comes next — Colombia? Panama? Greenland? Canada? — are not a matter of hysteria but of serious consideration in the capitals of the Americas, Europe, and elsewhere.
The U.S. House of Representatives should immediately cut funding for these activities, and the Senate should immediately and fully invoke its constitutional powers to decide when and if our country goes to war. Both chambers of Congress should also immediately begin investigations into the financial arrangements between our president and the foreign powers who appear to be bribing him and buying influence over our government by purchasing his crypto, investing in his family businesses, and donating to his many funds.
Gray Cox
Bar Harbor
