Venezuelans in Florida rejoice at news of Maduro's abduction, but be wary of what comes next

News and views for Floridians and other thoughtful Americans. Venezuelan exiles, too.

Venezuelan refugees in Florida have been partying like it’s 1999 with the news that Nicolas Maduro and his wife were abducted by American special forces and swept up to New York to stand trial for narcoterrorism and other alleged crimes.

There are about 600,000 Venezuelans living in exile in the U.S., and more than half of them are here in the Sunshine State, mostly in the Greater Miami area.

And if any of us were in their shoes, we’d be celebrating too.

Imagine having your country taken over by a madman with dictatorial impulses who tries to cripple freedom of speech, hobble the press, and disappears people off the streets employing roving bands of masked government thugs all the while looting the federal treasury.

Actually, not that hard to imagine, is it?

But a note of caution to our Venezuelan friends:

You may want to reserve your enthusiasm for President Donald Trump’s “liberation” of your homeland.

Increasingly, this is looking more like a hostile corporate takeover, and the future is murky.

Largely this is because neither Trump nor his henchmen, like Florida’s own Marco Rubio, has yet to offer clarity on precisely what comes next.

Trump says he will “run” the country for a while and pay for that effort by stealing Venezuela’s oil.

Not sure why that is news to rejoice.

And Congress will reconvene this week, and there will be serious questions to be answered regarding the lawfulness—or lack thereof—of this action.

Our Constitution prohibits presidents from running off and starting wars in all but the narrowest of circumstances, none of which appear to be met here.

Which is why Maduro’s ‘arrest” is being styled as a police action. But if that’s so, then exactly why is Trump saying he wants to control a sovereign nation in the aftermath? By what authority? Under what law?

There are far too many unanswered questions right now to predict what comes next other than chaos. Which is likely high on the list of Trump’s goals.

When you’re cornered like a rat by, say, the inconvenient disclosures of the Epstein Files, what better way to distract than launch a war?

So, yeah, good that Maduro’s gone. But be careful what you ask for.

And don’t forget, all you exiles, Trump still wants to deport you.

J.C. Bruce is the founder of Tropic Press, a journalist, and award-winning author. He holds dual citizenship in the United States of America and his native Florida.

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