[Congressional Record Volume 160, Number 31 (Tuesday, February 25, 2014)]
[House]
[Page H1925]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                       THE CASE OF LEOPOLDO LOPEZ

  (Ms. ROS-LEHTINEN asked and was given permission to address the House 
for 1 minute and to revise and extend her remarks.)
  Ms. ROS-LEHTINEN. Mr. Speaker, it is right and fitting for the United 
States House of Representatives to pay attention to the case of 
Venezuelan opposition leader Leopoldo Lopez, who has been unjustly 
imprisoned by the puppet regime of Nicolas Maduro.
  Leopoldo is a grassroots leader and founder of the political party 
Voluntad Popular. He has been wrongfully accused of criminal 
incitement, conspiracy, arson, and intent to damage property.
  Leopoldo is being held in a military prison, and his proceedings have 
been kept secret from the public. We cannot stand idly by while 
democracy and due process are trampled on in our own hemisphere, Mr. 
Speaker. Being silent is not an option.
  Venezuelan students have been peacefully demonstrating against this 
regime that has no qualms repressing the protest with live ammunition 
and shock groups whose tactics are extremely violent.
  Those of us who advocate for freedom have a moral responsibility to 
support the students in Caracas, Merida, San Cristobal, Valencia, and 
throughout Venezuela who, through peaceful means, seek the way to 
create a more perfect union with democracy and freedom as their guide.

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