Kamlager-Dove, Bipartisan Group of Lawmakers Issue Joint Statement Condemning Venezuelan Regime’s Siege of the Argentine Embassy in Caracas

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, Congresswoman Sydney Kamlager-Dove (CA-37) joined Western Hemisphere Subcommittee Chairwoman María Elvira Salazar (FL-27), Ranking Member Joaquin Castro (TX-20), and Reps. Mario Díaz-Balart (FL-26), Carlos Giménez (FL-28), Joe Wilson (SC-02), Adriano Espaillat (NY-13), Ami Bera (CA-06), Debbie Wasserman Schultz (FL-25), Norma Torres (CA-35), Dina Titus (NV-03), Jonathan Jackson (IL-01), Sylvia Garcia (TX-29), and Vicente Gonzalez (TX-34) in issuing the following 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.

###