WASSERMAN SCHULTZ STATEMENT ON VENEZUELA UN SECURITY COUNCIL ELECTION

WASHINGTON – U.S. Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz (FL-23), a member of the State and Foreign Operations Appropriations Subcommittee, released the following statement today after Venezuela won a non-permanent seat on the UN Security Council, lasting from 2015-16:

“I am deeply concerned that Venezuela was elected to a non-permanent seat on the UN Security Council today. Since assuming power more than one year ago, President Maduro has demonstrated a flagrant disregard for democratic principles and international human rights standards by repressing and brutalizing his own citizens. It is reprehensible that his country now has a place on the Security Council, because his actions run completely counter to all that the UN Charter stands for.

“The Obama Administration has rightly and consistently expressed frustration and concern with Maduro’s conduct to date, echoed in UN Ambassador Samantha Power’s strong statement just today. Earlier this year I joined my colleagues in urging the Administration to help prevent this from happening, but ultimately, our government’s hands were tied because we are not a part of the Group of Latin American and Caribbean nations, or GRULAC.

“I am therefore extremely disappointed in the GRULAC’s failure to produce a viable and more worthy candidate for their group. They have a responsibility to secure the future of their own region and rebuke Maduro as he continues to crackdown on his own citizens and maintain ties with some of the world’s most vicious actors like Iran, Syria and Cuba.

“As a federal lawmaker and a representative of a strong Venezuelan community in South Florida, I will continue to speak out against the Maduro regime and prevent them from acquiring legitimacy on the international stage.”