Washington, D.C.- Today, December 6th, Florida lawmakers simultaneously filed resolutions in both the US Senate and House of Representatives to officially recognize Maria Corina Machado.
Machado overwhelmingly won the Venezuelan opposition party’s recent primary elections. However, Venezuelan Dictator Nicolas Maduro’s puppet Venezuelan Supreme Court invalidated the election results and barred Machado shortly afterwards.
Senators Marco Rubio(R-Fl) and Rick Scott (R-Fl) introduced the Senate resolution while Representative Mario Diaz-Balart (R-Fl) floored the House version.
The resolution rejects the Venezuelan Supreme Court’s rulings and recognizes Machado as the legitimate opposition party candidate. Additionally, the resolution also urges President Joe Biden to reintroduce sanctions against Venezuela.
President Joe Biden has yet to reimpose sanctions on Venezuela after lifting them in exchange for Maduro promising to permit free and fair elections in the upcoming 2024 elections. Maduro was given until November 30th to reinstate Machado, a deadline he failed to meet and has since unilaterally extended until December 15th.
To make matters worse, Maduro appointed Venezuelan Attorney General Tarek William Saab just recently ordered for the capture of Machado’s and other opposition leaders’ staff.
Given the current situation, the authors of today’s resolution are pressuring President Biden to react to Maduro’s pernicious behavior by reimposing sanctions.
“This is what happens when you give a genocidal dictator what they want,” lamented Senator Scott via X. Scott continued, “Biden must reverse his decision to lift sanctions on the Maduro regime and support @MariaCorinaYA and the people of Venezuela NOW.”
This is what happens when you give a genocidal dictator what they want.
Biden must reverse his decision to lift sanctions on the Maduro regime and support @MariaCorinaYA and the people of Venezuela NOW. No more excuses! https://t.co/8ZBUCIXW2m
— Rick Scott (@SenRickScott) December 6, 2023
Senator Rubio also expressed his belief that Maduro’s actions deserve instant punishment from the US.
Rubio stated that, “until there is real movement by Maduro to release U.S. citizens and hold truly free and fair elections,” lifted sanctions should be reinstated.
