Florida Reps. Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D) and Mario Díaz-Balart (R) have filed a bipartisan resolution that denounces Nicolas Maduro's "election fraud." Reps. Wasserman Schultz and Díaz-Balart, co-chairs of the Congressional Venezuela Democracy Caucus, are leading the effort that affirms the United States Congress is “standing in solidarity with the Venezuelan people and condemning Nicolás Maduro’s attempt to steal the Venezuelan Presidential election."
The resolution comes after Secretary of State Antony Blinken issued a statement that there was "insurmountable" evidence that Maduro had lost the election.
"the United States rejects Maduro's unsubstantiated allegations against opposition leaders," Secretary Blinken said. "Maduro and his representatives' threats to arrest opposition leaders, including Edmundo González and Maria Corina Machado, are an undemocratic attempt to repress political participation and retain power."
The resolution filed today recognizes Edmundo González as the president-elect of Venezuela, it also calls for the U.S. to implement sanctions, and it calls for international pressure to ensure that Maduro accepts the will of the Venezuelan people and to allow a peaceful transition of power.
Rep. Díaz-Balart noted that the Venezuelan people "refuse to let democracy die," adding that "now more than ever, the United States must strengthen measures against the dangerous, anti-American Maduro regime, which is closely allied to every U.S. adversary working against our national security interests."
Calling this "a pivotal moment for Venezuela," the Florida Republican added that it is also a crucial moment "for those across our hemisphere and around the world who are struggling for basic human rights under repressive regimes — regimes that are aided by the Maduro dictatorship.”
Rep. Wassermann Schultz also commented on the resolution, noting that “Venezuelans courageously took to the ballot box to seek true, legitimate representation after a lost decade under Maduro." "The nation repudiated Maduro and chose democracy," she said, "yet this brutal narco-regime refuses to face reality, despite evidence proving Maduro's loss." "The violent repression of protestors’ demands for democracy must end and a peaceful transfer of power must begin. The Biden-Harris Administration successfully forced Maduro to hold this election."
Joining the Florida lawmakers are their Florida colleagues Reps. Frederica Wilson (D), Darren Soto (D), Carlos Gimenez (R), Kathy Castor (D), Mike Waltz (R), Jared Moskowitz (D), Maria Elvira Salazar (R), Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick (D), Brian Mast (R), Lois Frankel (D), Texas Reps. Michael McCaul (R), Sylvia Garcia (D), Vicente Gonzalez (D), California Reps. Jim Costa (R), Juan Vargas (D), Norma Torres (D), Michigan Reps. Bill Huizenga (R), Kathy Manning (D), New Jersey Reps. Chris Smith (R), Andy Kim (D), West Virginia Rep. Alex Mooney (R), Georgia Rep. Dina Titus (D), New York Rep. Daniel Goldman (D), Pennsylvania Rep. Guy Reschenthaler (R), Arizona Rep. Ruben Gallego (D), Colorado Rep. Brad Schneider (D), Virginia Rep. Gerry Connolly (D), and Resident Commissioner on Puerto Rico Jenniffer Gonzalez-Colon (R).
