Washington, March 21, 2024

We are grateful that members of the Foreign Affairs Committee share our outrage regarding the Maduro regime’s renewed assault on democracy in Venezuela and stand in solidarity with the Venezuelan people, who continue to suffer under the boot of the dictatorship.

Washington, DC – Today, U.S. Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-FL), co-chair of the Congressional Venezuela Democracy Caucus, and Rep. María Elvira Salazar (R-FL), chair of the House Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on the Western Hemisphere, issued the following statement in response to committee approval of their bipartisan bill, the VERDAD Reauthorization Act, which would extend key provisions from the Venezuela Emergency Relief, Democracy Assistance, and Development Act which became law in 2019:

“We are grateful that members of the Foreign Affairs Committee share our outrage regarding the Maduro regime’s renewed assault on democracy in Venezuela and stand in solidarity with the Venezuelan people, who continue to suffer under the boot of the dictatorship.

“Four years ago, Congress passed the VERDAD Act to sanction key regime officials responsible for flagrantly violating human rights, counter Venezuela’s collusion with our adversaries, and accelerate a return to democracy. We cannot abandon our commitment to secure a return to democracy for the Venezuelan people and resolve the Venezuelan refugee crisis that has destabilized the Western Hemisphere.

“The Maduro dictatorships’ recent ban on opposition presidential candidate María Corina Machado’s candidacy represents a clear violation of the Barbados Agreement, which requires free elections in exchange for sanctions relief. We urge Congress to swiftly pass this legislation so the President can institute critical measures to enforce the agreement.”