The U.S. Senate approved this Thursday to move forward on a resolution that would prevent the country’s president, Donald Trump, from taking further military action against Venezuela without congressional authorization.
The motion presented to take the resolution to the Senate plenary received 52 votes in favor and 47 against, as at least five senators from Donald Trump’s Republican Party joined the Democrats in the vote, according to NBC.
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In addition to 47 Democrats, Republican Senators Rand Paul (Kentucky), Lisa Murkowski (Alaska), Susan Collins (Maine), Todd Young (Indiana), and Josh Hawley (Missouri) voted to continue advancing the legislation.
The decision to move forward with the measure that attempts to restore the authority of Congress’s war powers, presented by Tim Kaine, Democratic senator from Virginia, comes amid failed pleas from Republican leaders to stop it and maintain Trump’s authority over these decisions, arguing that the president’s use of the Army in Venezuela was justified.
What’s coming?
Now, the Senate will debate the measure and vote to approve it next week, explains
Politico. However, the resolution must subsequently pass through the House of Representatives, where it would have a more complicated treatment.
Furthermore, if approved in both houses of Congress, it would have to
survive a likely presidential veto.
If successful, the resolution would order the withdrawal of U.S. Armed Forces from hostilities within or against Venezuela, which have not been authorized by Congress.
Last year, two previous attempts to advance similar resolutions in the Senate were blocked by Republicans, according to
Reuters. This while the Trump administration intensified military pressure on Venezuela, with attacks on vessels in the southern Caribbean.
More attacks? On January 3, after the first military aggression against Caracas and other states of Venezuela, which led to the kidnapping of the Venezuelan president, Nicolás Maduro, and his wife, Cilia Flores, the occupant of the White House threatened a second wave of attacks.
“We are prepared to launch a second, much larger attack, if necessary,” he declared then.
However, he later softened his stance and stated that the U.S. will not station troops in Venezuela if the vice president of that country, Delcy Rodríguez, now acting president, does what Washington wants.
