Rubio Calls For Sanctions On Human Rights Violators In Venezuela, Stands With Peaceful Demonstrators

Statement

U.S. Senator Marco Rubio (R-FL), who spearheaded passage of the Venezuela Defense of Human Rights and Civil Society Extension Act, issued the following statement today regarding developments in Venezuela:

"Today in Venezuela, opposition leaders and average citizens are scheduled to gather to peacefully protest the Maduro regime's failed economic policies, its failure to provide basic security for the Venezuelan people, and its ruthless brutality in cracking down on its political opponents, many of whom are now behind bars. This form of expression is the God-given right of every human on the planet, but it has been under assault for years by the regimes of Hugo Chavez and Nicolas Maduro. Reports out of Venezuela suggest the regime might use deadly force against innocent Venezuelans demonstrating against the miserable reality that Venezuela has become under Maduro.

"The Obama Administration should not only speak out forcefully against such human rights violations in Venezuela, it should also back up its words with real action: sanctions against the corrupt individuals and regime officials who commit crimes and are responsible for this repression. The violence, bloodshed and despotism in Venezuela has gone on for too long, and it's time the Obama Administration implement a vast and sweeping wave of sanctions on all those who continue to wreck the future of the Venezuelan people."

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