On the recordJune 27, 2017
Last week's general assembly meeting of the Organization of American States, the OAS, in Cancun, was intended to get greater support from the region to hold Nicolas Maduro and his regime accountable for their horrific actions against the Venezuelan people. However, we fell short of the 23 votes needed to fully enforce a resolution condemning Maduro for convening a fake constituent assembly with the purpose of undermining the democratically elected national assembly. I commend the 20 nations. Thank you to the 20 nations that stood up to the Venezuelan tyrant; especially I want to single out Barbados, the Bahamas, St. Lucia, Jamaica, Guyana, and Belize. To our allies in the Caribbean who voted with the people of Venezuela and not with the regime, I say: Thank you. And to those who voted against the people of Venezuela and with the regime, my message to you is: Wake up. The Maduro regime is a sinking ship and, as that economy continues to implode, it will take some of the Caribbean nations along with it. It is in the best interest of the Caribbean nations to work with the United States, with Canada, with Mexico, and other regional allies to put an end to the abusive tactics of the Maduro regime once and for all. Unfortunately, Mr. Speaker, countries like Nicaragua, whose leader Ortega is a kindred spirit of Maduro, spoke out to oppose the meeting and criticized the OAS for what it called interference in Venezuelans' domestic issues.…





