NORFOLK, Va. — Latino advocacy organizations say they are fielding calls from concerned community members following recent developments in Venezuela, as state and federal lawmakers debate the U.S. response.
Roman Palomares with the civil rights organization League of United Latin American Citizens said people with ties to Venezuela have reached out out of fear and uncertainty.
“This issue, this incident that happened over the weekend, we’re still trying to see what develops,” Palomares said.
Palomares said the organization is still gathering information as events unfold, but remains ready to assist Venezuelans who may be affected.
“We don’t have any authority, but we want to see if the Latino communities and some of the Venezuelans are being affected and what it is that we can do when it comes to assistance,” he said.
At the federal level, Virginia lawmakers expressed differing views on the U.S. government’s actions.
Democratic Sen. Mark Warner criticized the move, saying it occurred without consultation with Congress.
“If any country can go in and extract a leader from another nation simply based on the presumption that they broke our law, what’s stopping Vladimir Putin from saying Zelensky broke Russian law so we can go take him out,” Warner said.
Republican Rep. Jen Kiggans defended the administration’s actions, saying the president acted within his legal authority.
“It does not require congressional approval,” Kiggans said. “The president was acting well within his legal jurisdiction to protect the homeland. We’ve seen other presidents take these same actions, and I support the fact that the president took these actions not just with our military, but with law enforcement, our DEA, and the FBI.”
Palomares said his organization is seeking transparency from law enforcement and federal officials as the situation develops.
“We take different positions on stuff that’s coming out by the federal government, and that’s all we can do,” he said.
While not taking a political stance, Palomares emphasized that the League of United Latin American Citizens will continue focusing on its mission to support affected communities.
“We’ll continue to do the best we can to serve those impacted,” he said.
