Mamayang Liberal Representative Leila de Lima joins other lawmakers from the Philippines weighing in on the US’s reported strikes on Caracas, Venezuela and the capture of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro on Saturday, January 3. In a statement, the congresswoman said that the “attack” undermines international law and called the US “an aggressor state not unlike China, Russia, and Israel.”
De Lima wrote that the US’s actions “normalize… China’s expansionist aggression in the South and East China Seas.” She also emphasized that it leaves the Philippines, a US ally, “with a compromised moral ascendancy in protesting, condemning, opposing, and fighting China’s aggression in the West Philippine Sea.”
She added that the developing conflict between the US and Venezuela is a “reality check on our reliance on the United States for moral leadership [on] the world stage and as an ally for regional security and a rules-based international order.” De Lima also urged Congress to conduct consultations with the national defense, intelligence, security, and foreign affairs sectors to address “the impact of superpower aggression on our own precarious situation in the West Philippine Sea.”
Akbayan Partylist Rep. Perci Cendaña likewise said that the US’s aggression in Venezuela only bolsters similar illegal aggressive acts of Russia in Ukraine and China in the West Philippine Sea.
The partylist later put out a statement condemning the attack, acknowledging Maduro’s “allegations of corruption, malgovernance, authoritarianism, economic hardship, and human rights abuses.”
“Nevertheless, effecting change in Venezuela, and determining the means by which such change occurs, is ultimately a decision for the sovereign Venezuelan people to make,” the partylist said. “It is not for the United States, or any external power, to dictate the future of another nation. The proper role of democracy-respecting countries is to stand in solidarity with oppressed peoples as they struggle for justice, freedom, and democracy on their own terms. When stronger nations impose their will on weaker ones, that is not democracy; it is tyranny.”
Meanwhile, Senator Jinggoy Estrada said, “Our first and foremost concern should be the well-being and safety of our kababayans who may be affected by the evolving situation in Venezuela.” In his statement, he also said that “it is premature to conclude whether international law has been violated, especially as the US government maintains that the incident was part of a law enforcement operation.”
Why Trump Took Maduro
On Saturday, US President Donald Trump announced that US Special Forces captured Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, near one of his safe houses and transported them to New York City. The Venezuelan leader is set to appear before a US federal court on drug and weapons charges. Charging documents state that Maduro led a “corrupt, illegitimate government that, for decades, has leveraged government power to protect and promote illegal activity, including drug trafficking,” according to The Guardian. Venezuelan Vice President Delcy Rodriguez has assumed the position of interim vice president in his absence.
At a press conference held at his Florida resort residence on Saturday, Trump said that the US “will run the country until such time as we can do a safe, proper, and judicious transition.” He also said that US oil companies would move to Venezuela, which has the largest oil reserves in the world, and refurbish its infrastructure.
Trump and the US have also drawn ire for the strikes on the capital of Caracas, which killed at least 40 people, according to The New York Times. While the strikes were reportedly focused on military installations in the area, Reuters reports that civilians and their houses were also affected, with Venezuelan authorities stating that civilians were among the casualties. No official death toll has been released.
