[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 160 (2014), Part 4]
[House]
[Page 5780]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                               VENEZUELA

  (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. Madam Speaker, I rise today to speak for those who 
are being violently muzzled by the autocratic Maduro regime in 
Venezuela.
  This regime has used every arm of the state to attack its political 
opponents, resulting in at least 39 dead and many more imprisoned.
  One of these leaders is Leopoldo Lopez, whom we can see in this 
poster, who has been unjustly detained in a military prison for almost 
7 weeks and who now faces a 14-year prison sentence just for protesting 
peacefully to promote democratic principles.
  The arrest of Leopoldo Lopez has nothing to do with justice and 
everything to do with silencing the political opposition and the 
Venezuelans' call for democracy; yet the Obama administration still has 
not taken any action against Maduro, and it has failed to hold human 
rights violators accountable.
  This communicates a dangerous indifference that is painful not only 
to the Venezuelan people, but to all who care about freedom and human 
rights, and it further erodes the little credibility we have on the 
international stage.
  Let's listen to the people of Venezuela.

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