“A Precedent for Authoritarian Regimes”: Colorado Senators, Protesters React to Invasion of Venezuela

The Colorado congressional delegation’s reaction to the invasion of Venezuela ranged from silent to furious on January 3, with Democrats admonishing President Donald Trump’s military orders as another slap to the face of the U.S. Constitution and an “unprecedented use of military force.” Even one Republican House member wasn’t thrilled with how Trump went about it.

Trump ordered the fast invasion into Venezuela, leading to the American capture of President Nicolás Maduro, without Congressional approval. Hours after the invasion and capture of Maduro, Trump said the U.S. would fill the leadership void it had created in Venezuela, and would “fix” oil production and distribution in the South American country, which has the largest oil reserves in the world, by selling oil to other nations.

Many Venezuelan refugees in America cheered the ouster of Maduro, who retained his presidency in July after an election fraught with controversy and wide claims of fraud that Maduro’s government refused to investigate. However, the act of war ordered by Trump violates the the War Powers Resolution, a federal law requiring congressional approval for armed International conflict, according to Colorado senators John Hickenlooper and Michael Bennet.

Bennet, who is currently running for governor of Colorado, says the move could be replicated by other aggressive international leaders.

“As I have long said, Venezuelan dictator Nicolás Maduro is an illegitimate, brutal leader who lost, and then stole, the 2024 elections. Nevertheless, as a member of the U.S. Senate Intelligence Committee, I have seen no evidence justifying the administration acting alone without Congressional authorization. I certainly have seen no justification for putting U.S. troops on the ground to ‘run the country’ or rebuild and exploit Venezuela’s oil infrastructure for our own economic purposes,” Bennet says in a statement.

Today’s invasion followed several controversial U.S. military attacks on the Venezuelan coast that the Trump administration claimed were anti-drug enforcement operations targeting fentanyl trafficking organizations. The attacks were met by public opposition, though, with polls showing the vast majority of Americans opposing military action in Venezuela and wanting more information from the Trump administration about Venezuela’s alleged threats to American safety.

According to Bennet, invasion of Venezuela will likely embolden other countries to follow suit.

“The President’s top advisors describe today’s actions as a ‘law enforcement exercise.’ But today’s unprecedented use of military force and the President’s suggestion for the United States to run Venezuela are dangerously far beyond that. President Trump’s continued abandonment of basic principles of international law and order eventually will reverberate against America’s national interests; the only question is when,” the senator’s statement continues.

Some Republican representatives from Colorado, like Lauren Boebert and Jeff Crank, have stayed quiet so far, while Gabe Evans praised the invasion. In a tweet attempting to link fentanyl deaths to the Joe Biden administration, Evans said that “Today, America is safer”

Representative Jeff Hurd, a Republican who represents parts of the Western Slope and southern Colorado, praised the military’s “professionalism,” but offered some criticism of the president’s latest move, saying that any future military involvement “must be narrowly defined, legally grounded and coordinated with Congress.”

Protest in Denver

Shortly after news of the U.S. invasion into Venezuela, flyers started circulating online about protests at the State Capitol Building. According to posts on Instagram and Reddit, various local organizers and groups will be holding protests against the invasion of Venezuela at 2 p.m., 4 p.m. and 7 p.m. today, January 3. These are not permitted protests, so the start time, length and location may change.