[Congressional Record Volume 160, Number 33 (Thursday, February 27, 2014)]
[House]
[Pages H2013-H2014]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                               VENEZUELA

  (Mr. DIAZ-BALART asked and was given permission to address the House 
for 1 minute.)
  Mr. DIAZ-BALART. Mr. Speaker, for the last several weeks, the people 
of Venezuela have risen up to protest the corruption, the food 
shortages, the soaring crime rates, and particularly, the alarming 
repression in Venezuela.
  Mr. Speaker, since the protests began, more than 500 people have been 
arrested, approximately 150 injured, and over a dozen have been killed. 
It is disgraceful to think the Chavez-Maduro regime has actually 
managed

[[Page H2014]]

to devastate the economy of Latin America's largest oil exporter to the 
point where, now, the Venezuelan people are facing shortages of basic 
goods, like cooking oil and even toilet paper.
  Maduro has intensified his intimidation tactics by increasing 
political arrests and violence, labeling the opposition as terrorists 
and enemies of the State, and actually even expelling independent 
media, such as CNN.
  Mr. Speaker, I urge the international community to aggressively 
express their commitment to the basic freedoms that are under assault 
in Venezuela; and I also, Mr. Speaker, urge our administration to--at 
the very least--demand that the OAS immediately convene its Permanent 
Council to invoke the democratic charter, since it has clearly been 
violated.
  Now is the time to stand with the Venezuelan people.

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