By Jason Lange
WASHINGTON, Jan 5 (Reuters) – One in three Americans approve of the U.S. military strike on Venezuela that toppled the country’s president and 72% worry the U.S. will become too involved in the South American country, according to a Reuters/Ipsos poll that concluded on Monday.
The two-day poll showed 65% of Republicans back the military operation ordered by Republican President Donald Trump, compared to 11% of Democrats and 23% of independents.
U.S. forces swooped into Caracas before dawn on Saturday in a deadly raid that yielded the capture of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, who the U.S. military turned over to federal authorities for prosecution on charges involving alleged drug trafficking.
The Reuters/Ipsos poll, conducted on Sunday and Monday, showed significant support among Republicans for a foreign policy that includes exerting influence over nearby countries.
Some 43% of Republicans said they agreed with the statement: “The United States should have a policy of dominating affairs in the Western Hemisphere,” compared with 19% who disagreed. The rest said they were unsure or did not answer the question.
The poll, which surveyed 1,248 U.S. adults nationwide, showed Trump’s approval rating at 42%, the highest rating since October and up from 39% in a December poll. The poll, which was conducted online, had a margin of error of about 3 percentage points.
(Reporting by Jason Lange in Washington; editing by Scott Malone and Cynthia Osterman)
