<\/p>\n
As the situation in Venezuela continues to capture international attention, one expert believes the Trump administration\u2019s decision to capture and detain former President Nicol\u00e1s Maduro could yield positive results.<\/p>\n
Listen to the latest\u00a0episode\u00a0of \u201cQuick Start\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n \u201cMy first reaction was, \u2018What an incredible job of the American military to pull this off with no U.S. casualties,’\u201d Col. (Ret.) Gregory Thompson, professor of criminal justice at Cedarville University, told CBN News of the Trump administration\u2019s bold move to detain Maduro.<\/p>\n Beyond that, Thompson said his mind also went to matters surrounding faith and the church.<\/p>\n \u201cBut, more importantly to me as a Christian, I\u2019m thinking of just the incredible joy because I have friends that work with pastors in Venezuela, and it\u2019s been difficult, as you probably know,\u201d he said. \u201cWhen Hugo Chavez took over Venezuela, he kicked out all mission organizations, so that was significant, and the pastors there are being salt and light.\u201d<\/p>\n While many Venezuelans and political observers are excited to see Maduro go, Thompson said there are still many questions about what comes next.<\/p>\n \u201cMy general sense is I\u2019m excited for maybe a hopeful future for Venezuela \u2014 one that\u2019s free, particularly free for the free exercise and the spread of the Gospel message of Jesus Christ,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n Thompson said the situation leading up to Maduro\u2019s ouster was perilous and difficult after Maduro and his predecessor Hugo Ch\u00e1vez wreaked what critics call havoc on free speech, expression, and truth.<\/p>\n \u201cThey pretty much wrecked the economy,\u201d he said. \u201cInflation is beyond rampant. They have a politically corrupt government, which I think we\u2019ve heard in the news.\u201d<\/p>\n Thompson said socialism has been a disaster globally, with ineffective policies failing to create human flourishing.<\/p>\n All of this leads to President Donald Trump\u2019s decision to send the U.S. Army\u2019s elite Delta Force to capture Maduro. While some speculate that oil was a driving force, Thompson believes it\u2019s a factor but not the \u201cmain driving force\u201d behind the decision.<\/p>\n \u201cI think with President Trump\u2019s concerns when he came into office, this is like the perfect storm,\u201d he said. \u201cIllegal immigration was highly coming from Venezuela \u2026 they\u2019re leaving because they want to live in a free country. They want to pursue a place where they can live in freedom and democracy, and so they\u2019re coming to America, but illegally, of course, and in droves. So that\u2019s one issue.\u201d<\/p>\n The other issue, according to Thompson, centers on nations like Iran and terror groups like Hezbollah, with both having purported influence and presence in Venezuela. Mix in Russian and Chinese influence and one can easily see why this collectively becomes a problem for the U.S.<\/p>\n It\u2019s an issue Secretary of State Marco Rubio addressed on a recent episode of \u201cFace the Nation.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s very simple, OK? In the 21st century, under the Trump administration, we are not going to have a country like Venezuela in our own hemisphere, in the sphere of control and the crossroads for Hezbollah, for Iran and for every other malign influence in the world,\u201d he\u00a0said. \u201cThat\u2019s just not gonna exist.\u201d<\/p>\n Thompson said these issues \u2014 mixed with the narcoterrorism claims against Maduro \u2014 made a compelling case for Trump to take action.<\/p>\n \u201cTo be fair, much of the drugs coming in the U.S. are coming from Colombia and Mexico, but there is significant amount of drug flow,\u201d he said. \u201cObviously, we\u2019ve seen the boat strikes coming from Venezuela.\u201d<\/p>\n Ultimately, some critics have said Trump didn\u2019t have authority under international law to attack a sovereign country. But Thompson said there\u2019s a self-defense exemption.<\/p>\n And with drugs impeding so many Americans\u2019 lives over so many years amid an ongoing drug war, this argument becomes compelling.<\/p>\n There\u2019s no telling what comes next, but Thompson noted Iran is one of the biggest losers in this scenario.<\/p>\n \u201cTalk about an interesting situation,\u201d he said. \u201cIran has really lost a significant amount of power in the region. Based on the stealth bomber strikes, the Israeli action, the 12-day war, the dismantling Hezbollah and Hamas, this is yet another blow to Iran for certain.\u201d<\/p>\n Watch above for more.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" As the situation in Venezuela continues to capture international attention, one expert believes the Trump administration\u2019s decision to capture and detain former President Nicol\u00e1s Maduro could yield positive results. Listen to the latest\u00a0episode\u00a0of \u201cQuick Start\u201d \u201cMy first reaction was, \u2018What an incredible job of the American military to pull this off with no U.S. casualties,’\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":16108,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[36],"tags":[1618,2212,819,1515,3825,1401,1060,552,174,2199],"class_list":{"0":"post-16107","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-jesus","8":"tag-blow","9":"tag-bold","10":"tag-delivers","11":"tag-hezbollah","12":"tag-iran","13":"tag-major","14":"tag-move","15":"tag-report","16":"tag-trump","17":"tag-venezuela"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/biblelon.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16107","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/biblelon.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/biblelon.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/biblelon.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/biblelon.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=16107"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/biblelon.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16107\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/biblelon.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/16108"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/biblelon.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=16107"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/biblelon.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=16107"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/biblelon.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=16107"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}