newYou can now listen to Fox News articles!
Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., said Sunday that the United States is engaged in an “ongoing war” with Venezuela following what he described as recent U.S. actions regarding the country.
During an appearance on NBC’s “Meet the Press,” Paul said the United States is still in conflict with Venezuela over its oil.
“This is an act of war, this is an ongoing war, to continue to seize their oil, an ongoing war, and distribute it,” Paul said.
He continued: “I still hope that things will turn out for the better, but we are still engaged in an active war with Venezuela.”
Trump administration files seizure orders targeting ships linked to Venezuelan oil trade: report
Senator Rand Paul said that the United States is engaged in an “ongoing war” with Venezuela. (Getty Images)
The senator added, “We still have hundreds of ships with a 100% blockade on the coast.”
This comes after the American operation to attack Venezuela and arrest its president. Nicolas Maduroand the Trump administration’s subsequent seizure of an oil tanker from the country.
Venezuela is one of the largest oil producers, and its oil industry has become the focus of attention of the Trump administration. Officials said oil sales to the United States would begin immediately with an initial shipment of about 30 to 50 million barrels, and that shipments would continue indefinitely.
“This oil will be sold at market price, and I will control this money, as President of the United States of America, to ensure that it is used for the benefit of the people of Venezuela and the United States!” Trump previously wrote on Truth Social.
Venezuela is one of the largest oil producers, and its oil industry has become the focus of attention of the Trump administration. (Getty Images)
Trump also said that the United States would continue to “manage” Venezuela for much longer than a few months. Trump and his Secretary of State, Marco Rubio, have said they will do so It takes some time for Venezuelaled by Interim President Delcy Rodriguez, to reach a place where she can hold elections.
A Quinnipiac University poll found that more than half of American voters oppose the Trump administration running Venezuela.
Paul is part of a bipartisan group of lawmakers who want to limit Trump’s ability to launch further attacks against Venezuela after the US military’s recent move to strike the country and arrest Maduro, which the Kentucky Republican said amounts to war.
Rand Paul Says GOP Colleagues ‘Don’t Give a F— About These People in Boats’: They ‘Say They’re Pro-Life’
Sen. Rand Paul is part of a bipartisan group of lawmakers who want to limit President Donald Trump’s ability to launch further attacks against Venezuela. (Eric Lee/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
Click here to download the FOX NEWS app
The group tried to pass a war powers resolution last week to prevent the president from further intervention without congressional approval, but the effort failed in the Senate.
“The only problem with a war powers vote now is that since it doesn’t happen there are a lot of Republicans who say, ‘Oh, that’s a possibility. I’m not going to tie his hands in the future,'” Paul said Sunday.
He added: “The problem is that if you wait until after the invasion, as the administration says, we don’t know it’s a war until we count the casualties. That’s kind of a crazy definition of war, because our job is to start or declare war.”