President Trump needs to increase pressure on Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro’s regime, according to a pair of senators worried about drug trafficking and terrorism in the troubled country.
“It is clear that the United States can — and should — do more to increase international pressure against Maduro and his cronies,” Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., and Sen. Bob Menendez, D-N.J., wrote in a letter to Trump.
Trump has sanctioned Maduro and other Venezuelan officials in response to their repression of political opponents and protesters who have criticized the regime in the midst of food shortages and an economic crisis. The lawmakers want the president’s team to “promote peace and accountability in Venezuela” and rally an international effort to target the regime.
“We also respectfully request you to direct Ambassador Nikki Haley to call for the United Nations Security Council to hold an emergency session or related meeting on Venezuela, and for the United Nations to create a special envoy for Venezuela to monitor and address these issues,” they wrote.
Haley condemned Maduro on Thursday after his allies in the National Constituent Assembly — a body formed in order to supplant the constitutionally-authorized legislature, which is controlled by Maduro’s political opponents — scheduled snap presidential elections for the end of April.
“By calling for snap presidential elections, the dictator Maduro and his sham Constituent Assembly are showing the world that they never had any intention of allowing the people of Venezuela to have their voices heard,” Haley said. “The United States will not stand idle as the people of Venezuela continue to be victimized by the Maduro regime.”
Secretary of State Rex Tillerson and some lawmakers have disagreed about whether “democracy promotion” should figure into the State Department’s mission, but Rubio and Menendez tied the Venezuela crisis to national security and immigration priorities.
“This lawless environment threatens the stability and security of the region, including the United States, by providing fertile ground for drug cartels and U.S.-designated foreign terrorist organizations,” they wrote. “The Maduro regime’s use of lethal force, violence, and intimidation in response to pro-democracy protests and political opposition has led to hundreds of deaths, thousands of injuries, and destabilizing flows of Venezuelan refugees into neighboring countries.”
Tillerson’s team also has condemned the abruptly-scheduled presidential elections.
“This vote would be neither free nor fair,” State Department spokeswoman Heather Nauert said Wednesday. “It would only deepen, not help resolve, national tensions. It would not reflect the will of the Venezuelan people, and would be seen as undemocratic and illegitimate in the eyes of the international community. We call on the Maduro regime to respect the human rights of all of its citizens, and to return to democratic constitutional order.”
