Editor’s note: Send your opinion on Saturday’s events in Venezuela. E-mail nancywestnews@gmail.com and I will post them here. Read related story here: Trump Says U.S. Will Run Venezuela After Capturing President Maduro and Wife; Sen. Shaheen Condemns Military Action
Protesting U.S. Military Action in Venezuela Today, Jan. 4 in NH
By JENNIFER DIONNE, Litchfield
“If the US is going to remove and try their corrupt President, they’re going to have to do us a solid and return the favor.” — Jennifer Dionne.
By HEATHER M. PIKE, Pittsfield
Many of us elders who remember history, recall our government’s past similar such actions. Our response is sadness. — Heather M. Pike, Pittsfield
By BILL KINGSTON, New Castle
“What do the people of Venezuela want? This question never came up during all the bragging from President Trump. If you walk around the government buildings in Caracas, you will see large murals and other evidence of how the Venezuelan people take pride in their revolutionary history. How General Simon Bolivar led the entire region in a revolution that successfully gained its freedom from Spain. Yes, the same occurred in our own Revolution—and we know the outcome. Trump wants us to believe that the oil companies will spend billions to get the oil out of Venezuela. I doubt that the oil executives are willing to spend a dime until they know who is running the country and there is a stable government that welcomes them. I further cannot imagine the people of Venezuela consenting to Americans coming in and taking their oil.
“Removing Maduro is probably a good thing but it changes nothing. There are 28.5 million people who will have to go along with an American takeover. This would include the military, the well-equipped and powerful criminal gangs who want to protect their drug trade, Marxist guerillas, and the supporters of the present government who have been armed by the government. The country is full of jungle trails and clandestine airstrips. Revolutionary groups are sure to receive support from outside the country from some very bad actors. We will be trying to support our own troops from thousands of miles away. How is this different from Viet Nam and Iraq?” — Bill Kingston, New Castle
By WILL THOMAS, NH Veterans for Peace
“The attack on Venezuela was clearly a violation of the UN Charter and International Law. Quite simply, it wasn’t about Maduro being behind sending cocaine into the US, it was about the largest reserves of Oil in the world. Recall the 2003 attack on Iraq? It was called “Operation Iraqi Liberation”- OIL. Same thing with Venezuela- Operation Absolute Resolve which translates to the US resolving to seize Venezuela’s oil!
Trump is “off the rails” and such a hypocrite as he has pardoned several major drug smugglers including ex-Honduran president, Juan Hernandez, after he was convicted of working with drug smugglers to ship 400 tons of cocaine into the US! Hernandez had been sentenced to serve 47 years in prison but the convicted felon, set him free!
“Trump and his sycophants represent a “clear and present danger” to both the U.S. and to the world. Moreover, He and his buddy, Netanyahu, are global anarchists and terrorists. Would that the citizens of both the U.S. and of Israel, remove these fascist leaders from their positions of power, nonviolently.” — Will Thomas, Manchester, NH Veterans for Peace
By GREG DAVIS, Salem
“Have to hand it to the Distracter-In-Chief and his minions! The illegal attack on Venezuela sucks up all the media oxygen, and focuses attention away from both the failure to release all of the Epstein files and the release of the highly damaging testimony of special counsel Jack Smith.
“The partial Epstein files dump was heavily redacted to protect the rich and powerful of every stripe and position (especially #47), revealing little already not known. And the House Judiciary Committee’s release on New Year’s EVE of Jack Smith’s testimony was timed so that nobody would be listening. That testimony highlighted Trump’s central role in inciting the Jan 6, 2021 Insurrection and it also implicated him and Republicans (many still in Congress) in the widely debunked 2020 election denial conspiracy. It’s ‘Wag The Dog’. Unfortunately, Epstein, Jan 6th, Venezuela, etc. are NOT a movie. When Americans wake up from their New Year’s celebrations, will they realize they have been taken for suckers and conned again. Will they do anything about it? Wanna bet?
“PS. Knock-on bonuses – distraction from the abandonment of Ukraine and complicity in the Palestinian genocide! What a wonderful start to the New Year. — Greg Davis, Salem, NH
By BILL STERGIOS, Candia
“What justification does Trump have to arrest Maduro? Well first of all he was indicted in 2020 by the Biden administration. He wasn’t rightfully elected, taking over by force. He is responsible for killing hundreds of thousands of young American citizens. This is in effect a declaration of war on our country. One of Trump’s jobs is to protect his citizens. He’s doing just that as well as helping their citizens. Unfortunately those with Trump Derangement Syndrome are opposing this action and siding with the criminal drug dealers and against our innocent citizens. They would rather see our president in jail and Maduro running free. They don’t care that blood is on their hands, as long as they can take power. Sad.” – Bill Stergios
By FRED PORTNOY
“It was never about the drugs. It was never about the legitimacy of the
presidential election – how could it be? It may have been a little
about Epstein. It is now clear, in case there was any doubt, that POTUS
intends to use the full resources of the US military to declare himself
King of the Entire Western Hemisphere, (the way his buddy Putin wants to
re-create the old Czarist empire). At least those parts of it that have
resources, like Venezuela, or valuable waterfront property, like Cuba.” — Fred Portnoy, Canterbury
By CHRIS SALMON: “Thank you for you coverage of this action. I thought first that I would like to know the position of my legislators, and I am glad you had statements in your story. See story here.
“Of course this action is the action of a person that does not have the capacity to make decisions of this nature, decisions that (in order to be lawful decisions) would need the concurrence of Congress BEFORE being taken.
“The mis-appropriated ability for the Executive to execute this act of war can only mean the Executive has to be stripped of access to these powers. My hope is that both chambers, the House and the Senate, will act quickly to mitigate the damage done to our government by the Executive usurping the power of the House to declare war.” “– Chris Salmon – Acworth, New Hampshire
By LESLIE S. MACGREGOR, “Our corrupt and deceitful president is destroying our Constitutional order. An attack on another sovereign nation, even if its leadership is corrupt, should not have been done without Congressional involvement at the very least. Trump has lied over and over again to Americans and now he has destabilized our region with unknown but likely disastrous consequences in the entire hemisphere. Republicans in power need to stop this insanity, impeach and convict!
Leslie S. MacGregor “I wish it need not have happened in my time” said Frodo. “So do I” said Gandalf, “and so do all who live to see such times. But that is not for them to decide. All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given us.”
Op-Ed: War by Whim: What Trump’s Lawlessness Means for New Hampshire
By Rep. David Preece, Hillsborough County, District 17
New Hampshire has never believed in kings. From the town meeting floor to the State House, we are a state that insists power must be earned, justified, and restrained. That is why what happened this weekend should alarm every Granite Stater—regardless of party.
Without congressional authorization, without provocation, and without any imminent threat to the United States, Donald Trump ordered military action against Venezuela. The United States attacked a sovereign nation, killed civilians, and forcibly seized its president, Nicolás Maduro, spiriting him off to face trial in this country. That is not law enforcement. It is an undeclared war.
Presidents do not get to decide—on impulse or political convenience—when America goes to war. The Constitution is explicit: that power belongs to Congress. Trump ignored it because he could, and because he believes no one will stop him.
Representative Jim Himes, ranking Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee, confirmed what many feared: there was no evidence that Venezuela posed a threat justifying military force, no authorization from Congress, and no plan for what comes next. Secretary of State Marco Rubio had previously denied that the administration was pursuing regime change. That denial now reads as deception.
Senator Andy Kim was even blunter: the administration bypassed Congress because it knows the American people reject another reckless war. Mexico has already condemned the action. Others will follow. Every condemnation weakens America’s standing—and every ally lost leaves states like New Hampshire more economically exposed.
Granite Staters may ask: What does Venezuela have to do with us? Quite a lot. War drives instability, instability drives higher oil prices, and higher oil prices hit rural states first and hardest. Heating oil costs. Gasoline costs. Transportation costs for small businesses. This action risks pushing fuel prices upward at a time when New Hampshire families are already stretched thin.
There is also the human cost. New Hampshire has veterans who know exactly what “limited strikes” turn into. Senator Ruben Gallego, an Iraq War veteran, warned that this was an illegal war—another unjustified conflict that risks repeating the disasters of Iraq and Afghanistan. Our state sent its sons and daughters to those wars. We live with the consequences still.
The administration now claims this was merely an “arrest operation.” That argument collapses under scrutiny. The president of another country is not a fugitive subject to U.S. police action. If this logic stands, any powerful nation may seize foreign leaders at will. That is not order. It is international anarchy. And it invites retaliation. If the United States can do this to Venezuela, what stops Russia from doing the same elsewhere? Or China? This precedent does not make New Hampshire safer. It makes the world more dangerous.
The timing also raises troubling questions. Trump is facing mounting pressure over the Epstein files, a weakening economy, and visible signs of decline. History has a name for this tactic: a “wag the dog” war—violence abroad used to distract from failure at home.
Even more disturbing is what comes next. Wartime powers are easily abused. This administration has already shown a willingness to trample civil liberties, target immigrants, and treat dissent as disloyalty. A president who ignores Congress abroad will not suddenly respect limits at home.
Congressional Republicans have shown no interest in stopping this. They have surrendered their constitutional role, abandoned the War Powers Act, and accepted presidential violence as normal governance.
That leaves the courts—and the public.This crisis is inseparable from the Supreme Court’s recent decision granting Trump sweeping immunity. Under Chief Justice John Roberts Jr., the Court gave Trump powers the Framers explicitly feared. He is now testing how far that immunity stretches—straight into war.
New Hampshire has a proud tradition of skepticism toward unchecked power. We do not believe leaders should be obeyed simply because they are loud or claim strength. We believe they must answer to the law.
If Congress does not act—through hearings, funding restrictions, or impeachment—it will not be Trump who pays the price first. It will be working families facing higher costs, veterans asked once again to carry the burden, and a country sliding toward executive rule by force.
This is not about Venezuela alone. It is about whether the Constitution still matters—here, in New Hampshire, and everywhere else,” said Rep. David Preece.