Risch, Mast Statement on Events in Venezuela

WASHINGTON - U.S. Senator Jim Risch (R-Idaho), chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, and U.S. Congressman Brian Mast (R-Fla.), chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, today released the following statement regarding dictator Nicolas Maduro's use of violence against peaceful protestors, and his regime's arrest of Venezuelan democracy activist Maria Corina Machado:

"Nicolas Maduro has once again used violence to illegitimately cling to power and silence his political opponents. President Biden's failure to address the crisis in Venezuela has only empowered Maduro's corrupt thugs and left American interests unprotected.

"The Biden White House must immediately reimpose all sanctions lifted on Venezuela since November 2022 - no grace period, no excuses. The U.S. and our allies should rally member countries of the Organization of American States to sanction corrupt individuals in the Maduro regime, secure the release of Americans arbitrarily detained by the regime, work to persuade the European Union to increase economic and diplomatic pressure on the Maduro regime, and seek international cooperation in the arrest and extradition of Nicolas Maduro and the drug traffickers that keep him in power."

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