1 of 2 | Sen. Tim Kaine, D-Va., and two other senators filed a war powers resolution to prevent President Donald Trump from invading Cuba. File Photo by Bonnie Cash/UPI | License Photo
Senate Democrats filed a war powers resolution Friday to stop President Donald Trump from starting a war with Cuba without approval from Congress.
Sens. Tim Kaine, D-Va., Ruben Gallego, D-Ariz., and Adam Schiff, D-Calif., filed the resolution. It could get a vote by the end of the month.
Trump has recently threatened Cuba, saying the United States could carry out a “friendly” or “not friendly takeover” of the island nation, which has had tensions with the United States since the 1959 revolution that made Fidel Castro its communist leader.
“When will President Trump understand that Americans want lower prices, not more unnecessary wars? Only Congress has the power to declare war under the Constitution, but he operates with the belief that the U.S. military is a palace guard, ordering military action in the Caribbean, Venezuela and Iran without Congress’ authorization or any explanation for his actions to the American people,” Kaine said in a statement. “We shouldn’t risk our sons and daughters’ lives at the whims of any one person.”
Democrats have tried to pass war powers resolutions recently to prevent Trump from attacking countries such as Venezuela and Iran, but they’ve been repeatedly dismissed by Congressional Republicans.
The United States has been carrying out a blockade of Cuba since January to prevent fuel imports to the country, which has caused a serious energy crisis on the island.
Trump said earlier this week that Secretary of State Marco Rubio was negotiating with Cuba, and Cuban president Manuel Diaz-Canel confirmed that Friday.
Cuba has shown its willingness to advance the process “on the basis of equality and respect for the political systems of both states, for sovereignty and for the self-determination of our governments,” Diaz-Canel said.
Gallego said threatening to invade Cuba is not putting “America first.”
“[Trump] ran on America First, but now it’s clear he’s become a puppet of the war hawks in his party. The American people want nothing to do with nation building — they want lower prices, good health care and affordable homes, not a new war to satisfy neoconservatives in South Florida,” Gallego said in a statement.
