Last week, Nicolás Maduro and his regime decided to break the promise he made to the Biden Administration to respect the candidacy of his main opposition candidate, María Corina Machado, for the presidential election in 2024.
Not even a few weeks after his deal with President Biden to loosen sanctions on Venezuelan oil exports, the Maduro dictatorship nullified the results of the October 22 primary elections where María Corina won a commanding 92% of support from the opposition.
As this move directly violates the deal President Biden made with Maduro, Congresswoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-FL) and I are calling on the Biden Administration to reimpose sanctions on the Venezuelan government.
Our full statement in English below:
“We strongly condemn the decision by Venezuela's regime-controlled court to suspend the democratic opposition's primary election process, which mobilized 2.4 million Venezuelan voters to nominate María Corina Machado as the opposition candidate for the 2024 presidential election. This assault on democracy is a severe breach of democratic principles and a clear violation of the Maduro regime's recent agreement with the opposition Unitary Platform and the Biden Administration.
The criminalization of this legitimate political process, which was overseen by independent election observers and coordinated in compliance with international norms, reflects a well-established pattern of disdain for genuine electoral independence and repression of political opponents, as demonstrated by the regime’s ban on opposition candidates and parties.
The court's requirement that the independent National Primary Commission turn over documents identifying Venezuelan voters is especially grave, considering the regime's history of retaliating against dissent through arbitrary imprisonment, extrajudicial killings, torture, marginalization, and denial of social services. We are horrified by the prospect that Venezuelan-Americans who participated in the primary vote, including many of our constituents, could become targets of the regime.
The Biden Administration should use all available tools to enforce the terms of the October 17 agreement, which promised the reimposition of sanctions in the event of a violation, and ensure that Ms. Machado has the opportunity to run in a free, fair election. Every effort must be undertaken to protect Venezuelan voters, including Venezuelan-Americans, from retaliation for exercising their right to vote.”
¡Para leer el comunicado de prensa exigiendo que la Administración Biden vuelva a imponer sanciones al régimen de Maduro por incumplir el acuerdo que hizo con el presidente Biden, haga clic AQUÍ!
