[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 161 (2015), Part 2]
[Senate]
[Pages 2880-2882]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                               VENEZUELA

  Mr. RUBIO. Madam President, I want to speak about the ongoing crisis 
in Venezuela--something that doesn't capture a lot of attention in the 
headlines because we have situations going on in the Middle East, as we 
have seen the horrifying reality of what ISIS is doing, just this week 
kidnapping more Christians.
  As we look at that situation in the Middle East, we should remind 
ourselves that there is a sectarian component to this that extends 
beyond ISIS's desire to convert the entire region to their version of 
radical Sunni Islam, but it also includes driving out all the 
Christians from the Middle East, and that is why they are specifically 
being targeted for brutalization. We have seen it again this week, and 
our heart breaks; and it should move us to move even faster in our 
efforts to destroy them. We can do this.
  I also know the world's attention is being paid to Ukraine where a 
delicate ceasefire is being violated by Russians, both Russian regular 
troops, by the way, who make incursions into Ukraine to fight side by 
side with rebel forces against the central government of Kiev, but also 
the weaponry that they continue to harm them with and the heavy 
shelling that at times comes across the border from Russia into 
Ukraine.
  These are significant issues we are being confronted with, and I 
understand why our attention is being paid to these things. But there 
is something happening in our own hemisphere that is not getting our 
attention, and I hope to use a few moments on the floor of the Senate 
to call attention to it, and that is the horrifying human rights 
catastrophe of Venezuela.
  Venezuela is a rich country--rich in oil and rich in people. Its 
people are well-educated, hard-working, talented. It is the cradle of 
democracy in Latin America and in the Western Hemisphere; but over the 
last 3 years especially it has spiraled downward and out of control.
  A once rich and prosperous nation has shortages of everyday goods 
from toilet paper to soap, with people having to wait in long lines. 
There is no U.S. embargo in Venezuela. There are no economic sanctions 
on Venezuela that they can blame on us or anyone else. It is due simply 
and entirely to the mismanagement and incompetence of Nicolas Maduro, 
the clown who runs that country, and the thugs who surround him in his 
gangster-style government.
  Venezuela ostensibly portrays itself as a democracy but in reality it 
is not. The court system is completely controlled by the government of 
Maduro. The elections are constantly manipulated by Maduro. There is no 
freedom of the press. For example, the government gets unlimited hours 
to talk on television about whatever they want, and the opposition gets 
virtually none. Newspapers that oppose the government find that they 
cannot import newsprint--the actual paper--so they can't print. Other 
media outlets have been either bought or the owners have been forced 
out of the country and been bought and turned over to owners more 
friendly to the government. The point is Venezuela is not a democracy, 
or is a democracy in name only.
  Beyond that, it is a government that is losing control and for the 
first time a few weeks ago or months ago authorized the National Guard 
to use deadly force on protesters. So it should not surprise us that 
earlier this week a young man--a high school student--was shot and 
killed in one of those protests, and we should expect to see more of 
this in the days and weeks to come, unfortunately. I hope I am wrong 
and pray that I am wrong, but I believe that is where they are headed, 
because there is no way out of this mess for the government.
  In fact, their situation is so dire that one of the things that has 
allowed them to keep the elite on the side of Maduro is the gas 
subsidy. Gasoline is very cheap in Venezuela because it is subsidized 
by the government. I predict over the next few weeks or months the 
Venezuelan Government is going to have to go to the people and say we 
have to take away the subsidy. And when that happens, Maduro may lose 
the support that is even around him. That is why he is being so careful 
about announcing it, but they are going to have to do it. There are no 
ifs, ands, or buts about it. And when they do, it could quickly spiral 
out of control as well.
  There are reports of coup attempts internally, with some of the 
military starting to bristle at the heavy-handedness of this government 
there, and that is something worth watching. The point is Venezuela is 
spiraling out of control. We need to pay attention to this because it 
is happening in our own hemisphere. It is happening in our own

[[Page 2881]]

backyard. It has the ability and the potential not just to dramatically 
impact the people of Venezuela, but the countries of the region and 
even our own. I don't think enough attention is being paid to this, 
while every single day the brutality continues.
  I called attention to this for the first time last year in February 
when the first wave of protests happened. We worked diligently to try 
to achieve sanctions on the individuals responsible for these human 
rights violations. Thanks to my colleagues here who were able to pass a 
bill that authorized the administration to impose sanctions on 
individuals in Venezuela responsible for human rights violations. To 
date the administration has imposed visa bans on some of these 
individuals, but they have not taken the next step of economic 
sanctions on the people responsible for these human rights violations.
  A few weeks ago I wrote the President a letter asking him, please 
begin to use this tool against those who are violating the human rights 
of the people of Venezuela. He has yet to do so. So I once again renew 
that call: Please impose these sanctions on the human rights violators 
in Venezuela.
  I hope I can use these moments to describe to people what I am 
hearing from people inside Venezuela and the expat community in 
Florida. They feel as though no one is paying attention. They feel as 
though they have been abandoned. They feel as though they are alone. 
Every single day the news leads off with all these things happening 
around the world--and they are worried about these things, too--but 
they feel as though no one is speaking out for them. They feel 
abandoned by all the other nations in the region.
  Where are all the governments of the Western Hemisphere? Where are 
all the other countries that are neighbors to Venezuela? Where is the 
Organization of American States? What is the point of even having that 
organization if it can't serve as an institution and a forum for 
condemning this sort of activity? Where are all the democracies of 
Latin America and the Western Hemisphere? Why are they not speaking out 
and condemning what is happening here?
  It is interesting, we sent a couple of Guantanamo detainees to 
Uruguay and the Uruguayan Government says they are asylum seekers, that 
they are refugees--basically implying they are refugees to American 
oppression. They have no qualms whatsoever about speaking out against 
the United States for putting in jail enemy combatants and terrorists 
responsible for the murder of Americans, responsible for acts of 
terrorism, responsible for supporting the Taliban. They have no problem 
condemning us, claiming that the people we released to them--which we 
should never have done--are refugees and asylum seekers, but they are 
silent and say nothing when it comes to what is happening in Venezuela. 
The hypocrisy of it is unbelievable.
  I challenge the heads of state of the countries of Latin America to 
speak out. The only problem is they are going to turn back around and 
say, Where is your head of state? Why isn't your President speaking out 
about it? The answer is, I don't know. I am grateful that he signed 
that bill. It is time to put it in effect. It is time to begin to use 
the tools in those sanctions to go after these individuals, but I wish 
the White House and the President would more forcefully and more 
consistently speak out against these human rights violations that are 
occurring.
  When you think about it, why are the people of Venezuela feeling 
abandoned? They look to us. They see America as the beacon of hope. We 
are supposed to be the premier defender of human rights and freedom and 
democracy on the planet; and instead, from the White House and the 
President, there is silence. There is silence.
  We cannot lose that aspect of our foreign policy. I understand that 
reality has a significant role to play in foreign policy, the balancing 
of different considerations; but morality and human rights must always 
be a key cornerstone of where we stand on issues of global affairs. If 
we lose that, if we lose the moral authority of this Nation, we lose 
our standing as a beacon of hope and freedom to people all over the 
world.
  I know sometimes we read newspaper articles and these leaders 
criticize us. But I hope it is understood that although people may talk 
badly about America, even in places where there might be some 
resentment about America, at its core people admire America. They 
admire us because they know someone from there who came here and was 
able to achieve things they never could have done in their own 
homeland. They admire us because every time there is an earthquake, 
Americans are the first ones there. Every time there is a flood, 
Americans are the first ones to respond. Every time there is hunger or 
suffering, it is American charities and the American Government first 
on the scene. They remember that and they admire it and they admire us 
for it.
  They admire our freedoms. They admire our democracy. They admire the 
fact that I am able to stand here on the floor today and criticize the 
President of the United States and there isn't some police officer 
outside that door ready to handcuff me and take me to jail.
  Meanwhile, in Venezuela, just this week a member of their legislative 
branch was ousted. Do you know why they kicked him out? So he could 
lose his legislative immunity and they could arrest him. Two weeks ago 
armed agents stormed the office of a mayor, fired shots in the air to 
disperse crowds and arrested by force a member of the opposition 
party--a mayor. This is happening in our own hemisphere and this is 
happening in the 21st century. It was just two decades ago that the 
Western Hemisphere was full of dictators, rightwing and leftwing, 
strong men who controlled and oppressed their people. We paid a 
terrible price for that in this hemisphere and in this country. Then 
there was this opening of democratic progress in the region. Now it is 
starting to erode and we are standing by and saying nothing about it, 
as if it doesn't even exist.
  You see it eroding in Nicaragua where the Sandinistas are back in 
charge. They won an election and then they used that power to erode 
democracy. You see it in Bolivia, you see it in Ecuador. You even see 
hints of it in Argentina. And you really see it in Venezuela.
  By the way, let me point out one more thing. Today, even as I speak 
to you, Cuban agents are here negotiating. I say Cuban agents. They 
dress as diplomats and act as diplomats, but in fact they are spies. In 
fact, the chief negotiator for the Cubans in these talks they are 
having with the State Department, Josefina Vidal, was asked to leave 
this country with her husband because her husband was an intelligence 
officer and she is known to be one as well. But these Cuban spies are 
here to negotiate with the State Department. They send spies. We send 
diplomats.
  Let's not forget who has taught the Venezuelan Government these 
tactics of oppression, these violent tactics, these ways to crack down 
on society. Let's not forget who has coached them. Let's not forget 
there are thousands of Cuban agents working in the Government of 
Venezuela right now. Let's not forget there are thousands of Cuban 
agents infiltrated in the Armed Forces--not infiltrated, they are 
openly in the Armed Forces of Venezuela right now.
  Let's not forget that in Venezuela, Maduro, and before him Chavez, 
ousted the sovereignty of Venezuela to the Castros. Let's not forget 
who the source of all of this in Venezuela truly was--who coached them, 
who taught them, who supported them, who provided personnel for them to 
carry this out. It is Cuba, a nation that is a global sponsor of 
terrorism, because they harbor fugitives from American justice, because 
they helped North Korea evade U.N. sanctions openly and nothing 
happened. Now the State Department is thinking about removing them from 
the list of sponsors of terrorism--one concession after another.
  But, anyway, on the issue of Venezuela, I hope we will pay more 
attention to it, because there are people right now suffering--not just 
economically but politically and physically at

[[Page 2882]]

the hands of a brutal regime. They are looking to America and its 
leaders to speak clearly that we are on their side, that we will speak 
out for them, that we will stand for them, and we will use the power of 
this government to go after and punish those who are committing these 
crimes against them.
  Mr. President, I yield the floor.
  I suggest the absence of a quorum.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mr. Perdue). The clerk will call the roll.
  The legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll.
  Mr. McCONNELL. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order 
for the quorum call be rescinded.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.

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