WASHINGTON, D.C. – Earlier this week, Senators Rick Scott, Jeanne Shaheen, John Curtis, and Tim Kaine issued a joint bipartisan statement reaffirming the United States’ support for freedom and democracy in Venezuela as the one-year anniversary of Nicolás Maduro’s theft of the Venezuelan presidential election approaches.

This follows a recent meeting between Senators Scott and Shaheen and Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado, where they reiterated their backing of her efforts and of Edmundo González Urrutia, Venezuela’s rightfully elected president.

The senators said, “As the one-year anniversary of Nicolás Maduro’s theft of the Venezuelan presidential election approaches, we reaffirm our unequivocal condemnation of the Maduro regime’s ongoing repression and human rights violations. In July 2024, millions of Venezuelans turned out and delivered a clear mandate for change – overwhelmingly electing democratic opposition candidate Edmundo González Urrutia and the movement started by María Corina Machado. Rather than respect the outcome, the Maduro regime doubled down on its tired autocratic playbook and abandoned even the veneer of a democratic outcome—one year later still refusing to release any of the promised ballots that they argue would have affirmed Maduro’s victory. The truth today is as clear as it was as the returns poured in on July 28, 2024: the Venezuelan people yearn for new leadership and a democratic country that is once again part of the international community. Today, as ever, we recognize the resilience of the Venezuelan democratic opposition, and we stand united with the Venezuelan people and their aspirations for a brighter future.”

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