On the recordDecember 10, 2014
I, too, want to thank my colleague and the gentlewoman from south Florida, who has really been a passionate advocate and whom I have stood in solidarity with on this and so many other issues. Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong support of the Venezuela Defense of Human Rights and Civil Society Act of 2014. I do so as the proud representative of Westonzuela, my hometown, and one in which we have an incredibly rich and vibrant community of Venezuelans and Venezuelan Americans. As the representative of one of the largest communities of Venezuelans and Venezuelan Americans in the United States, I am here to strongly speak out against the continued, unconscionable abuses of the Maduro government against innocent citizens. Earlier this year, facing a repressive government and crushing economic conditions, thousands of Venezuelans peacefully protested to demand their basic human rights and dignity. In response, President Maduro and his security forces brutally suppressed their own citizens in the streets and used the judiciary to squash voices championing freedom of expression and democracy. Although President Maduro has tried to further silence these voices by limiting media coverage of the ongoing oppression and repression and terrible economic conditions of his country, we can still hear the demands for justice and for dignity.…





