Central Louisiana News

U.S. Senators Bill Cassidy (R-LA), Marco Rubio (R-FL), Michael Bennet (D-CO), John Kennedy (R-LA), Peter Welch (D-VT), Rick Scott (R-FL), Pete Ricketts (R-NE), John Cornyn (R-TX), and Tim Scott (R-SC) along with U.S. Representatives Carlos Giménez (R-FL-28), Ruben Gallego (D-AZ-03), Jenniffer González-Colón (R-PR-AL), María Elvira Salazar (R-FL-27), Chris Smith (R-NJ-04), and Mario Díaz-Balart (R-FL-26) issued a joint statement following the Venezuelan presidential election.

“To no one’s surprise, dictator Nicolás Maduro has once again stolen a presidential election. However, what the narco-regime will never steal is the Venezuelan people’s desire to return to democracy and live in freedom after decades of tyranny. We must prioritize uniting the free world in rejecting these sham election results and securing the release of the more than 300 Venezuelans that remain arbitrarily detained in torture centers as political prisoners,” said the lawmakers.

“The Maduro dictatorship is experiencing an internal fracture, and members of the dictatorship know their status quo, which is filled with incompetence, is no longer sustainable. There is massive discontent in the streets of Venezuela, and everyday citizens have stood in support of opposition leaders María Corina Machado and Edmundo Gonzalez. Let there be no doubt: the countries and international organizations backing this fraud of unimaginable proportions must be held accountable, as should members of the narco-regime and its ‘National Electoral Council,’” continued the lawmakers.

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