After President Donald Trump announced information about the operation, Florida Republicans, the state with the largest population of Venezuelanswere quick to praise the decision. They had been calling for action for weeks.
“A new day has dawned for Venezuela and Latin America,” Sen. Rick Scott wrote in an X post, thanking Trump, Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth and Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who previously represented Florida with Scott.
“The United States and our hemisphere are safer thanks to President Trump's leadership,” he added.
The operation follows mounting pressure from the Trump administration, including military strikes aimed at killing alleged drug traffickers on boats off the coast of Venezuela.
In South Florida, where a large Venezuelan community lives in places like Doral, GOP lawmakers supported Maduro's removal long before the attacks.
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“Our country faced an unprecedented threat to national security from the illegitimate Maduro regime,” Miami Republican congressman Mario Daaz-Balart stressed in a statement on Saturday. He blamed Maduro for sending drugs and “brutal cartel members” into the country, while bringing Venezuela closer to American adversaries such as Iran, China, Russia and Hamas.
“While others hesitated, President Trump saw this threat and took decisive action,” he said.
Congressman Carlos Gimenez, a South Florida Republican, said he spoke with Secretary of State Marco Rubio after the attacks. He called the operation “equivalent to the fall of the Berlin Wall in this hemisphere“.
“This is a great day for Florida, where most of the refugees from Venezuela, Cuba and Nicaragua live,” Gimenez wrote in a post on X. “This is the community I represent, and we are filled with emotion and hope.”
“Venezuelans deserve the rule of law”
Trump announced that the United States had launched an attack on Venezuela early Saturday morning, adding that Maduro and his wife had been taken out of the country.
In a conversation with a journalist from “The New York Times”, Trump praised the success of the mission. “A lot of good planning and a lot of great, really great soldiers and great people. It was actually a brilliant operation, he said.
US Attorney General Pam Bondi stressed that Maduro “will soon face the full severity of the American justice system.” She also announced that he had been charged with drug-terrorism, cocaine importation and conspiracy against the United States related to the possession of machine weapons and destructive devices.
House member Debbie Wasserman Schultz, a South Florida Democrat whose district has a large Venezuelan population, called Maduro's capture “good news for my friends and neighborswho fled his brutal, unlawful and disastrous rule.
“Venezuelans deserve the promise of democracy and the rule of law, not a state of endless violence and growing chaos,” Wasserman Schultz emphasized in a statement. “I hope this will open the way to true democracy and liberation,” she added.
However, like other Democrats, she criticized Trump for not involving Congress in the operation. “There is no point in cutting off a snake's head if it grows back again,” she said.
I’m Ashley Davis as an editor, I’m committed to upholding the highest standards of integrity and accuracy in every piece we publish. My work is driven by curiosity, a passion for truth, and a belief that journalism plays a crucial role in shaping public discourse. I strive to tell stories that not only inform but also inspire action and conversation.
