Biden pressed by GOP to sanction Venezuela over election results
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Rep. Mario Diaz Balart speaks at a press conference at the Capitol on July 19, 2022. Photo: Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images.
Congressional Republicans are pressing the Biden administration to impose harsh sanctions on Venezuela's government for allegedly "subverting" the results of the country's presidential election on Sunday.
Why it matters: Some Republicans have blasted Biden administration's deal with Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro to ease sanctions on the country's oil and gas sectors in exchange for holding free and fair elections.
- The administration reimposed those sanctions in April after a leading opposition candidate, María Corina Machado, was barred from running.
What they're saying: In a letter to Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris, Reps. Mario Diaz-Balart (R-Fla.), Maria Salazar (R-Fla.) and Carlos Gimenez (R-Fla.) called to "swiftly impose sweeping, robust sanctions" on Venezuela.
- They also urged "targeted sanctions on individuals responsible for subverting Venezuela's once democratic" system.
- "Shamefully, the will of the Venezuelan people has not been respected throughout this sham process. Until then, the only dialogue should be how to facilitate Maduro's swift and absolute exit," they wrote.
State of play: Despite exit polling indicating opposition candidate Edmundo González Urrutia defeated Maduro by a 2-to-1 margin, Venezuela's National Electoral Council declared Maduro the winner, Axios' Astrid Galván reported.
- The opposition alleged that electoral observers were unable to verify the counts at some voting sites.
- Maduro's government has long been accused of interfering in past elections and stifling his political opposition.
Zoom in: Sen. Rick Scott (R-Fla.) wrote to President Biden on Monday, urging him to "immediately reimpose sanctions on Maduro and his thugs."
- Additionally, Scott urged Biden to call Machado and González Urrutia, recognize González Urrutia as president-elect and protect both opposition figures from Maduro.
- A bipartisan group of lawmakers stopped just short of calling for sanctions in statement, saying: "The countries and international organizations backing this fraud of unimaginable proportions must be held accountable, as should members of the narco-regime and its 'National Electoral Council.'"
The other side: A senior Biden administration official told reporters in a briefing on Monday that they are "in the process of evaluating these election results, and we have to see where this comes out."
- The official said they "can't get into hypotheticals" about sanctions policy, adding: "Now that we are faced with potentially a new scenario, we are going to take that into account as we map forward where we may head with respect to sanctions towards Venezuela."
- The Biden administration did not immediately respond to a request for further comment.
Go deeper: U.S. expresses "serious concerns" over Maduro victory claim in Venezuela election
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