Conservative lawmakers in Washington have condemned Venezuelan Dictator Nicolas Maduro’s latest threats and repressive tactics against Venezuelan opposition leader Maria Corina Machado.
Machado recently reported Dictator Maduro sent undercover agents that attempted to break into her private residence in Caracas, Venezuela.
The agents, who arrived in a silver SUV without a license plate, allegedly threatened to arrest Machado’s neighbors as well as her home’s security guard.
Shortly following Machado’s alerts, Republican lawmakers publicly criticized the agents’ threats and intimidation attempts.
Senator Rick Scott (R-FL) and Representative Maria Elvira-Salazar (R-FL), two long-time Machado supporters and allies, excoriated Maduro for sending the agents.
“Maduro and his thugs are so scared of losing power that they’re resorting to raiding Machado’s home and threatening her neighbors,” said Senator Scott. “This cruel behavior is a desperate attempt to distract from what the world already knows—he’s an illegitimate dictator whose days in power are numbered.”
Representative Salazar echoed Scott’s message and alluded to Maduro facing consequences for “playing with fire.”
“Only 24 hours have passed since the announcement to cancel Chevron's license in Venezuela & dictator Maduro has already sent his thugs to the house of Machado,” stated Salazar. “Her life is in danger like never before.”
Maduro’s threats against Machado occurred shortly after the latter supported President Donald Trump’s recent economic measures crippling Venezuela’s oil exports.
President Trump canceled former President Joe Biden’s Venezuelan oil export licenses earlier this week.
President Trump’s license cancellation effectively reimposes sanctions on Venezuela’s oil sector that had been levied on Venezuela during Trump’s first term.
President Biden lifted such sanctions in the ‘Barbados Agreement’ in exchange for assurances from Dictator Maduro that he would host free and fair elections.
Despite promises of allowing free and fair elections, the Venezuelan regime barred Machado from participating in the same.
However, Machado invested her political capital into former Venezuelan Ambassador Edmundo Gonzalez, who subsequently won the presidential elections.
Subsequently, Gonzalez was forced to seek political asylum in Spain after the Maduro regime rejected the election results and threatened to arrest him.
