By Rev. Rhina Ramos
When Herod is terrified to lose his grip as king, he orders a massacre of children under two in Jerusalem. When President Trump faces lower approval presidential rates, and the increasing inflation of prices in the US, he resorts to invasion of a sovereign state.
The situation in Venezuela is complex. Many Venezuelans have longed for President Maduro to be replaced. During 29 years of Chavismo-Maduro dictatorships, Venezuela went down from being one of the countries with best standards of living in the hemisphere to a place where its nationals want to desperately leave.
You can rejoice about the fall of a dictator and still be horrified it happened as a result of violating international law. Both truths can coexist. You can still question the methods and intentions of the US in Venezuela because the Empire has never done anything in Latin America with the sole purpose of liberating. Thus far, 80 people are reported dead by the January 4th US strike on Venezuelan territory, and President Trump has blatantly declared “we are taking back the oil.” Reports from Democracy Now
What’s sad here that as a result of this invasion, many of us will benefit with maybe lower gas prices, while Venezuelan immigrants until very recently were treated as pariah by the US government. 252 Venezuelan immigrants were deported in March 2025 to a El Salvador’s maximum-security facility where they were tortured and abused.
In a statement, World Council of Churches (WCC) general secretary Rev. Prof. Dr Jerry Pillay has strongly condemned recent attacks carried out by the United States of America in Venezuela, including the capture and detention of President Nicolás Maduro and his wife, describing the actions as “stunningly flagrant violations of international law.”
Follow the money, who will really benefit from this. I truly hope that Venezuelans have the opportunity of self determination without the dirty selfish hands of oil seeking politicians. I hope that in ancient times, King Herod does not rule forever.
