US president says American oversight could last years, Senate votes on war powers
Rodriguez stated that the liberations, which have been a repeated demand of the political opposition in the country, were a gesture of peace, adding that the action was unilateral and had not been agreed upon with any other party.
The movement of senior opposition leader Maria Corina Machado, as well as other opposition figures and human rights groups, have demanded the release of political prisoners since the US capture of Maduro.
Local rights group Foro Penal estimates there are 863 political prisoners in the country, including political figures, human rights activists, protesters arrested after the disputed 2024 election and journalists.
The White House did not respond to a request for comment on the planned prisoner release.
Times Trump reportedly refused to answer questions about why he decided not to give power in Venezuela to the opposition, which Washington had previously viewed as the legitimate winner of the 2024 elections.
The Senate vote was a major victory for lawmakers who argue that Congress, not the president, should have the authority to send troops to war, as spelled out in the Constitution.
After the vote, Democratic Sen. Tim Kaine of Virginia, a co-sponsor of the resolution along with Kentucky Republican Sen. Rand Paul, said it was a “huge victory.”
“None of us should want this president, or any president, to take our sons and daughters into war without notice, consultation, discussion, and a vote in Congress,” Kaine said.
But we face a steep climb to enact the measure. The bill would need to pass the House of Representatives, which is also controlled by Trump’s Republicans.
If both chambers pass the resolution, each would need a two-thirds majority to override Trump’s possible veto. But it marked a rare backlash from congressional Republicans against the Trump White House.
The five Republicans who voted to advance were Paul, Susan Collins of Maine, Josh Hawley of Missouri, Lisa Murkowski of Alaska and Todd Young of Indiana. Trump’s party has a 53-47 majority in the Senate.
Trump said the five “should never be elected to office again.”
“Republicans should be ashamed of Senators who vote with Democrats and try to take away our Powers to fight and defend the United States of America,” he said on the Truth Social website.
Senators who opposed the decision said that Maduro’s capture was not a military action, but a law enforcement operation. Maduro will be tried in a US court on drug and weapons charges, to which he has pleaded not guilty.
Opponents also said Trump had the right as commander in chief to initiate limited military actions.
New York Times He said his reporters were allowed to attend the phone call between Trump and Colombian President Gustavo Petro, provided the content of the call was off the record.
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Trump said in his post on social media: “It was a great honor to speak with Colombian President Gustavo Petro, who called to explain the drug situation and other disagreements we are having. I appreciated his call and tone and look forward to meeting him in the near future.”
Petro described his first meeting with Trump as cordial. Trump on Tuesday unveiled a plan to refine and sell up to 50 million barrels of Venezuelan oil trapped in Venezuela under a U.S. blockade.
Venezuela, which has the world’s largest proven oil reserves, has become impoverished in recent years, with 8 million people fleeing abroad due to one of the world’s largest migration crises.
Washington and the Venezuelan opposition have long blamed corruption, mismanagement and brutality by the ruling Socialist Party. Maduro blamed US sanctions for the economic damage.
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Trump will meet with the heads of major oil companies at the White House on Friday to discuss ways to increase Venezuela’s oil production. Representatives of the three largest U.S. oil companies, ExxonMobil, ConocoPhillips and Chevron, will be present, according to a source familiar with the planning.
The companies, all of which have experience in Venezuela, declined to comment.
