Venezuela

Floor Speech

Mr. DIAZ-BALART. Mr. Speaker, for the last several weeks, the people of Venezuela have risen up to protest the corruption, the food shortages, the soaring crime rates, and particularly, the alarming repression in Venezuela.

Mr. Speaker, since the protests began, more than 500 people have been arrested, approximately 150 injured, and over a dozen have been killed. It is disgraceful to think the Chavez-Maduro regime has actually managed to devastate the economy of Latin America's largest oil exporter to the point where, now, the Venezuelan people are facing shortages of basic goods, like cooking oil and even toilet paper.

Maduro has intensified his intimidation tactics by increasing political arrests and violence, labeling the opposition as terrorists and enemies of the State, and actually even expelling independent media, such as CNN.

Mr. Speaker, I urge the international community to aggressively express their commitment to the basic freedoms that are under assault in Venezuela; and I also, Mr. Speaker, urge our administration to--at the very least--demand that the OAS immediately convene its Permanent Council to invoke the democratic charter, since it has clearly been violated.

Now is the time to stand with the Venezuelan people.

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