US lawmakers slam Venezuela strikes, question legality and constitutional grounds

Venezuela’s government called on its supporters to take to the streets in the wake of the U.S. military strikes early Saturday.

“People to the streets!” the official statement said. “The Bolivarian Government calls on all social and political forces in the country to activate mobilisation plans and repudiate this imperialist attack.”

The statement further reported that President Nicolás Maduro had “ordered all national defence plans to be implemented” and had declared “a state of external disturbance.”

This state of emergency grants him the power to suspend people’s rights and expand the role of the armed forces.