Washington, D.C. – Colorado U.S. Senator Michael Bennet, alongside 15 members of Congress, released the following statement regarding Venezuela’s announced election results:
“To no one’s surprise, dictator Nicolás Maduro has once again stolen a presidential election. However, what the narco-regime will never steal is the Venezuelan people’s desire to return to democracy and live in freedom after decades of tyranny. We must prioritize uniting the free world in rejecting these sham election results and securing the release of the more than 300 Venezuelans that remain arbitrarily detained in torture centers as political prisoners,” said Bennet and the lawmakers. “The Maduro dictatorship is experiencing an internal fracture, and members of the dictatorship know their status quo, which is filled with incompetence, is no longer sustainable. There is massive discontent in the streets of Venezuela, and everyday citizens have stood in support of opposition leaders María Corina Machado and Edmundo Gonzalez. Let there be no doubt: the countries and international organizations backing this fraud of unimaginable proportions must be held accountable, as should members of the narco-regime and its ‘National Electoral Council’.”
In 2019, Bennet urged the Trump administration to designate Venezuela for Temporary Protected Status (TPS) to ensure that Venezuelan nationals present in the United States were not forced to return to their home country at this time given the deteriorating situation caused by the illegitimate regime of Nicolás Maduro. Last year, Bennet called on the Biden administration to extend the eligibility date for TPS for Venezuelan nationals, given widespread violence, political persecution, food and medicine shortages, and other systemic collapses in Venezuela.
In addition to Bennet, U.S. Senators Marco Rubio (R-Fla.), Bill Cassidy (R-La.), John Kennedy (R-La.), Peter Welch (D-Vt.), Rick Scott (R-Fla.), Pete Ricketts (R-Neb.), John Cornyn (R-Texas), Tim Scott (R-S.C.) and eight members of the U.S. House of Representatives also signed this letter.
