After taking to social media to share her support for the Guaido family, Florida Rep. Maria Elvira Salazar (R) is vowing to take action. Rep. Salazar has directed a letter to Biden, urging him to grant Guaido asylum.
The issue arose when Venezuelan politician Juan Guaido arrived to Colombia ahead of a summit, requesting a meeting with international delegates. However, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs for Colombia issued a press release this week, announcing that Guaido had been escorted to the international airport to board a plane heading to the U.S.
In Miami, lawmakers like Rep. Salazar welcomed Guaido with open arms.
In a statement, Salazar commented on her support for Guaido, sharing that “Miami is home to a billion of exiles from socialist regimes across Latin America, and we now county Guaido as another among us.” “President Biden must how stand with the democratic forces in Venezuela by granting asylum to Guaido and his family and confront President Petro’s shameless deportation of Guaido.
In the letter, Salazar provides an assessment of Guaido’s “shameless declaration and deportation.” “Instead of the warm welcome one might expect for a man fleeing persecution, Guaido was described by Forein Minister of Colombia Alvaro Leyva as having entered the country ‘inappropriatiely’ and that he didn’t even know him,” Salazar added.
She went on to explain that the response establishes “a dangerous precedent for Venezuelans in Colombia,” explaining that “Colombia has become home to millions of Venezuelans fleeing persecution from the Maduro regime.”
Salazar shared that his deportation “sets a dangerous precedent that Colombia is no longer a refuge for those Venezuelans,” calling on President Joe Biden (D) “to be much firmer with President Petro about the well-being of the Venezuelans and other refugees that live there.”
If Biden grants Guaido’s family asylum, the would be taking “the side of democracy” wrote Salazar, affirming that “the United States has always stood as a beacon of freedom in the world against dictatorship and their defenders.”
