Massachusetts’ all-Democratic congressional delegation is emphatically condemning Saturday’s U.S. attack on Venezuela and accompanying detention of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro.
“Congress did not authorize this war,” Rep. Seth Moulton, a former Marine, posted on X. “Venezuela posed no imminent threat to the United States. This is reckless, elective regime change risking American lives (Iraq 2.0) with no plan for the day after.”
Moulton was even blunter in an appearance on CNN, asking: “Is anyone going to just stop for a second and be honest? This is insane. What the hell are we doing? I mean, we’ve got a lot of problems in America today, and invading, occupying, running Venezuela does not solve any of them.”
Rep. Jake Auchincloss, who is also a former Marine, struck a similar note on X.
“I commanded Marines in Latin America — they deserve a commander in chief operating lawfully and strategically,” Auchincloss said. “The president has no authority to strike Venezuela [and] no strategy for a democratic transition … Republicans in Congress must now join Democrats to grab hold the steering wheel of Venezuela policy to prevent this capture from spiraling into a blood for oil war.”
Sen. Ed Markey also took to X to condemn Trump’s actions.
“This is what dictators do,” Markey said. “This war is not just unjustified — it is unauthorized. Trump’s attack on Venezuela puts American lives in danger, destabilizes the region, and risks another endless war … Trump must be held to account for this reckless, illegal act of war.”
One local Venezuelan leader is offering a different perspective.
“Illegal or not illegal, whatever was happening in Venezuela was more illegal,” said Carlina Velázquez, president of the Venezuelan Association of Massachusetts, who was celebrating Maduro’s capture. “We the Venezuelans agree with what’s going on, and that’s all that matters. You know why? Because of this bureaucracy — that’s why Maduro, Chavez and all the narcoterrorists have been in Venezuela for 25 years.”
Velázquez said Maduro’s government has been accused of killing people over ideological differences, and that he wrongly claimed victory in the 2024 election even though Edmundo González earned more votes. She also said the economy in Venezuela has made life difficult, which led many to migrate out of the country. The Venezuelan Association of Massachusetts estimates there are about 10,000 Venezuelans living in the state today of varying legal statuses.
“Venezuelans are looking forward to go back as soon as possible to restore the economy and to live in their houses, restore the country,” she said.
Rep. Lori Trahan struck a slightly different note than some of her colleagues, panning Maduro’s tenure as president before decrying the decision to attack Venezuela in a post on X and emailed statement.
“Maduro is a dictator whose brutal, antidemocratic rule has brought immense suffering to the Venezuelan people,” Trahan said. “His repression and corruption are well documented and deserve condemnation. Acknowledging that reality does not justify the Trump administration bypassing Congress, putting our brave service men and women in harm’s way, or spending billions of taxpayer dollars on regime change in South America.”
Sen. Elizabeth Warren also described Maduro as a “terrible dictator” in a statement posted to X before turning her focus to condemnation of Trump.
Saturday’s attack “is unconstitutional and threatens to drag the U.S. into further conflicts within the region,” Warren said. “What does it mean that the U.S. will 'run’ Venezuela, and what will Trump do next around the world? The American people voted for lower costs, not for Trump’s dangerous military adventurism overseas that won’t make the American people safer.”
Like Markey, Rep. Jim McGovern decried the attack as illegal in an X post.
“Without authorization from Congress, and with the vast majority of Americans opposed to military action, Trump just launched an unjustified, illegal strike on Venezuela,” McGovern said. “[Trump] says we don’t have enough money for healthcare for Americans —but somehow we have unlimited funds for war?”
According to the website Mediaite, when a Fox News interviewer asked Trump about McGovern’s description of the attack as unjustified and illegal, he did not directly answer, saying instead: “These are weak, stupid people and they’re trying to save themselves from almost destroying our country. If I didn’t get elected, our country would not — I don’t even think we would have a country right now. We were heading down the path of destruction.”
Rep. Richard Neal and Rep. Bill Keating also condemned the attack. Neal warned that military operations conducted without thorough debate “too often end in prolonged conflict and unnecessary loss of life.” Members of Mass. congressional delegation condemn Venezuela attack as ‘unauthorized’ and ‘illegal’
This story has been updated to include additional comment from the Massachusetts delegation and Carlina Velázquez.
