Salazar Leads Colleagues in Statement Condemning Venezuelan Regime’s Siege of the Argentine Embassy in Caracas

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, Western Hemisphere Subcommittee Chairwoman María Elvira Salazar (R-FL) and Ranking Member Joaquin Castro (D-TX) joined Reps. Mario Díaz-Balart (R-FL), Carlos Giménez (R-FL), Joe Wilson (R-SC), Adriano Espaillat (D-NY), Ami Bera (D-CA), Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-FL), Norma Torres (D-CA), Dina Titus (D-NV), Jonathan Jackson (D-IL), Sydney Kamlager-Dove (D-CA), Sylvia Garcia (D-TX), and Vicente Gonzalez (D-TX) in a statement on the ongoing siege of the Argentine Embassy in Venezuela by the Maduro regime:

“The Maduro regime’s ongoing siege of the Argentine Embassy in Venezuela is a blatant violation of the Vienna Conventions. This political persecution of the six members of María Corina Machado’s team who have been at the Embassy for over eight months must end. The Maduro regime has cut access to water and electricity at the Embassy for weeks, an inhumane tactic which deserves clear repudiation from the international community. We unequivocally condemn these actions and call for the safe passage of these individuals to Argentina or another destination of their choosing. Maduro and his accomplices must be held accountable for their crimes.”

BACKGROUND:

Six members of Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado’s team have been taking refuge at the Argentine Embassy in Caracas since March. For the last month, the Maduro regime’s security forces have laid siege to the Embassy, including by cutting off water and electricity and stationing snipers surrounding the Embassy’s premises. Just this past week, an Argentine military policeman tasked with defending the Embassy was kidnapped by the regime’s security forces. President Javier Milei has been unrelenting in his support of the Venezuelan opposition and those trapped inside the Embassy.

Since the July 28 election, Chairwoman Salazar has championed the fight for freedom led by Venezuelan opposition candidate Edmundo González Urrutia and opposition leader María Corina Machado. She joined a bipartisan group of her colleagues to introduce the REVOCAR Act and VALOR Act, legislation that would cut off all financial lifelines for the Maduro regime’s repression at a time when he is strengthening the crackdown on opposition leaders and operatives throughout the country.

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