US in Venezuela

In the U.S., militarism pervades our politics, economy, society and culture. That’s a choice — not a destiny.

It's a moment many displaced Venezuelans in the U.S. and other countries in the Western Hemisphere have been dreaming about for years, and it arrived in the early morning of Jan. 3, beginning about 2 a.m. local time.
 

"These have been tense days, lived in a tense calm and with mixed feelings," said Archbishop Jesús González de Zárate, the Venezuelan bishops' conference president, in an interview with NCR days after the attack on Caracas.

Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado asked Pope Leo XIV Jan. 12 to intervene in freeing political prisoners and advance a democratic transition in the country after the ousting of its president by U.S. forces.

The Catholic archbishop of Miami, who ministers to the largest Venezuelan community in the U.S., said there is an anxiousness about what is next, but he believes the church has a key role to play in helping the Catholic-majority country move forward.

Just a few days before the Jan. 3 U.S. strikes on — and temporary takeover of — Venezuela, the Catholic bishops of several Caribbean nations had repeated their earlier plea for peace while expressing support for the Venezuelan people, amid a pre-attack buildup of U.S. military in the region.

Despite uncertainty, the church will keep trying to offer hope, Archbishop Jesús González de Zárate told NCR.

The U.S. strikes on — and announced temporary takeover of — Venezuela violate both the United Nations Charter and the Christian principles on which it is based, a University of Notre Dame scholar told OSV News.

Pope Leo XIV's words during his Angelus address came after a U.S. strike on Caracas killed at least 40 people, and Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro and his wife were captured and flown out of the country.