Venezuela: Where Was The US Security Council Meeting? The OAS Review? The US Congressional Debate?

Today, United States President Donald J Trump ordered an attack on the sovereign Country of Venezuela. In an exact operation, US Special Forces were able to capture the Venezuelan President, Nicholas Maduro. President Trump announced his capture on Truth Social:

The United States of America has successfully carried out a large-scale strike against Venezuela and its leader, President Nicolas Maduro, who has been, along with his wife, captured and flown out of the Country. This operation was done in conjunction with US Law Enforcement—details to follow. There will be a News Conference today at 11 A.M. at Mar-a-Lago. Thank you for your attention to this matter! President DONALD J. TRUMP

https://truthsocial.com/@realDonaldTrump

While many may applaud this operation, it comes with precious little authority. Trump ordered the strike, apparently without notifying any of the International Authorities, which would at least have provided a modicum of legitimacy to the operation.

I. In Venezuela, Trump acted precipitously without first seeking peace from that International Organization that was explicitly designed to avoid conflict, the United Nations.

Trump did not ask for a meeting of the United Nations Security Council, which would have provided an alternative to the current violence. The opening sentence of the UN Charter reads as follows:

WE THE PEOPLES OF THE UNITED NATIONS DETERMINED to save succeeding generations from the scourge of war, which twice in our lifetime has brought untold sorrow to mankind...

https://treaties.un.org/doc/publication/ctc/uncharter.pdf

II. In Venezuela, Trump did not seek the advice and counsel from the Regional Organization that also seeks peace, and recognized the sovereignty of each of its members, including both Venezuela and the United States.

Trump did not go to the Organization of American States, whose charter states:

Conscious that that mission has already inspired numerous agreements, whose essential value lies in the desire of the American peoples to live together in peace, and, through their mutual understanding and respect for the sovereignty of each one, to provide for the betterment of all, in independence, in equality, and under law...

https://treaties.un.org/doc/Publication/UNTS/Volume%20119/volume-119-I-1609-English.pdf

III. Finally, Trump did not seek the advice and consent of the United States Senate. In our system of governance, the Senate is the chief deliberative body that provides a second opinion, a reasoned view of a President's actions. In international policy, the Senate reviews all treaties, especially determining whether conflict between the United States and another nation is warranted. Trump avoided consultation with the Senate.

The Senate . . . was created that the deliberate will, the sober second thought of the people might find expression. It was intended that it should resist the hasty, intemperate, passionate desire of the people. -George Hoar, 1897

https://www.senate.gov/about/origins-foundations/idea-of-the-senate.htm

The ramifications of today's actions in invading Venezuela will, without doubt, be profound, for in it a US President has placed the United States above international law, global norms, and US customs. By these actions, President Trump has set our Country on a rogue path, one that puts military aggression above peaceful deliberation.

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