Wasserman Schultz, Salazar Introduce VOICE Act to Counter Interference in Venezuelan Presidential Election

Washington, September 21, 2023

“With backing from America’s most dangerous adversaries, Maduro and his cronies continue to draw from the dictatorial playbook to the detriment of Venezuelans,” said Rep. Wasserman Schultz. “This legislation draws a red line when it comes to his desperate attempts to cling to power by disenfranchising his opponents. The U.S. and its allies must stand united in our efforts to restore democracy in Venezuela.”

Washington, D.C. –Today, U.S. Representative Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-FL), co-chair of the Congressional Venezuela Democracy Caucus, and co-lead Maria Elvira Salazar (R-FL), Chair of the House Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on the Western Hemisphere,introduced the bipartisan Venezuelans Overcoming Interference and Corruption in Elections Act, or VOICE Act. This legislation would impose sanctions on Maduro regime officials who are responsible for attempts to ban opposition candidates including María Corina Machado, Henrique Capriles, and Freddy Superlano from participating in the anticipated 2024 presidential election.

“With backing from America’s most dangerous adversaries, Maduro and his cronies continue to draw from the dictatorial playbook to the detriment of Venezuelans,” said Rep. Wasserman Schultz. “This legislation draws a red line when it comes to his desperate attempts to cling to power by disenfranchising his opponents. The U.S. and its allies must stand united in our efforts to restore democracy in Venezuela.”

“In the face of renewed regime tactics to eliminate political opposition and steal the 2024 elections, the United States must support María Corina Machado and all those who are risking their lives to face the dictatorship,” said Rep. Salazar. “The VOICE Act restores the focus on Venezuela so that the dictator Maduro and his band of criminals can’t keep getting away with the looting and destruction of the country.”

Venezuela’s political opposition leaders have faced years of violence, censorship, imprisonment, and exile at the hands of the Maduro dictatorship. The pro-democracy Unitary Platform has overcome these difficulties to organize a presidential primary election that can provide Venezuelans with an electoral alternative to Maduro. The opposition has set aside political differences and invested in this process, which has included two presidential debates and registering millions of voters, with the goal of emerging with a consensus candidate.

However, despite the Biden Administration’s position that progress towards free elections is a necessary precondition for sanctions relief, the Maduro-controlled National Electoral Council (CNE) and other regime entities have continued to ban opposition candidates from running in elections, Maduro has ordered the mobilization of pro-government militias for a “peace campaign,” and the regime has blocked opposition websites in an apparent attempt to stifle the vote in the opposition primary, which is scheduled to take place in October.

The VOICE Act would support free elections in Venezuela by:

1. Expressing the consensus position of the United States that attempts to undermine Venezuelan democracy deserve condemnation and that the Venezuelan people deserve support in their efforts to advance democracy and use peaceful, electoral methods to achieve their goals.
2. Imposing asset- and visa-blocking sanctions on any person involved in efforts to ban opposition candidates from participating in Venezuela’s elections.
3. Providing for coordination between the U.S. and democratic partners in Europe and the Western Hemisphere, as well as multilateral institutions like the Organization of American States, to provide technical assistance in election administration, ensure the integrity and security of voter information, dispatch election observers, and document attempts to suppress the opposition vote.
4. Laying out conditions for what the United States considers a resolution of the political and humanitarian crisis in Venezuela.
5. Requiring the appointment of a Special Envoy for Venezuela to coordinate policy initiatives, oversee political negotiations, and assist with consular issues for Venezuelan Americans and Venezuelan migrants and refugees in third countries.
6. Generating a report on promoting independent news and countering malign foreign influence in Venezuela.