The U.S. military operation that captured Venezuela's Nicolas Maduro was not only legal but represented how American foreign policy should be conducted to protect U.S. interests and promote regional stability, Rep. Brandon Gill, R-Texas, said Monday.
Gill pushed back on Newsmax's "Finnerty" regarding criticism from Democrats who argued the operation early Saturday amounted to an unauthorized act of war.
"This is absolutely a legal arrest," Gill said. "And more importantly, this is precisely how American foreign policy should be conducted."
The Trump administration described Saturday's operation as a law enforcement action targeting a foreign narcotics trafficker rather than the seizure of a legitimate head of state.
Maduro has been indicted in the U.S. on federal drug trafficking and narco-terrorism charges, and the State Department had offered a reward of up to $50 million for information leading to his capture.
Gill said the operation served clear U.S. strategic interests in the Western Hemisphere.
"We identified a clear, direct strategic interest, which is regional stability in the Western Hemisphere, our own backyard," Gill said.
"We do not want narco-terrorists, hostile regimes, to be engaged in destabilizing actions that promote mass migration into the United States, that promote the flow of drugs into the United States, including cocaine and fentanyl."
He said stabilizing the region benefits not only the U.S. but also neighboring countries.
"We want regional stability that makes life better for everybody in the Western Hemisphere, including the American people," Gill said.
He also said Maduro had multiple opportunities to avoid the confrontation.
"The president and [Secretary of State] Marco Rubio gave Nicolas Maduro multiple diplomatic off-ramps so that it didn't come to this," he said.
"And he chose to dig in, to continue operating in ways that are clearly hostile to the United States. And he's paying the price for that."
Asked whether the operation was also about energy and geopolitics, Gill said preventing Venezuela from aiding U.S. adversaries was a key factor.
Gill said that one of "the most oil-rich countries on the entire globe, in the Western Hemisphere" is financing U.S. geopolitical rivals, citing Iran, Cuba, and Russia.
Gill also addressed remarks from Colombian President Gustavo Petro who publicly challenged President Donald Trump following Maduro's capture.
"Come get me. I'm waiting for you here," said Petro, who condemned the U.S. operation in Venezuela.
Gill said he doesn't "think that that's a wise sentiment from any hostile foreign leader."
"But the president has been very clear. If you're in our hemisphere especially, and you're operating contrary to our interests, if you are actively trying to destabilize our own backyard, we are going to be pushing back against you," he said.
"For a long time, the United States has pursued a foreign policy that is basically looking toward high rhetoric and putting out all kinds of bounties on foreign leaders' heads. This is a president who actually fulfills that – that rhetoric and those promises."
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