From his perch on the U.S. House Western Hemisphere Subcommittee, U.S. Rep. Ron DeSantis, R-Fla., is urging the Trump administration to crack down on the Maduro regime after a General Motors production facility was seized in Venezuela this week.
Chaos continues to swell in Venezuela as unemployment continues to raise and lower gas prices takes away that nation’s revenue. The GM plant was confiscated leading to that auto manufacturer to stop its operations in Venezuela.
DeSantis weighed in on the matter on Thursday afternoon.
“President Nicolás Maduro will leave behind a disgraceful legacy tarnished by his repeated abuses of power and an economic crisis precipitated by his socialist policies,” DeSantis said. “The seizure of General Motors assets is a naked abuse of government power that is fully consistent with the repeated behavior of Maduro and the socialist government of Venezuela. I urge President Trump to pursue additional sanctions, as well as other appropriate measures, to hold Maduro accountable and to give hope to the people suffering under Maduro's tyrannical yoke."
DeSantis has been focused on Venezuela in recent days. Earlier this month, he brought out a resolution expressing concern over the situation in Venezuela and urging the Trump administration to levy additional sanctions on members of the Maduro regime. The resolution garnered some support from the Sunshine State as Florida Republican U.S. Reps. Gus Bilirakis, Carlos Curbelo, Ileana Ros-Lehtinen and Ted Yoho signed as original co-sponsors. DeSantis’resolution was sent to the Foreign Affairs Committee. Last year, DeSantis co-sponsored a resolution from Ros-Lehtinen and U.S. Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz, D-Fla., “expressing profound concern about the ongoing political, economic, social and humanitarian crisis in Venezuela, urging the release of political prisoners, and calling for respect of constitutional and democratic processes.”
First elected to Congress in 2012, DeSantis has garnered attention as a possible candidate for statewide office in the future. A graduate of Yale and Harvard Law School, DeSantis served as in the Navy JAG Corps. DeSantis waged a brief campaign for the Republican nomination to replace U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., last year. When Rubio decided at the last moment to run for a second term in the Senate, DeSantis dropped out of the race and ran for a third term in the House. DeSantis, who currently chairs the House National Security Subcommittee, is generating buzz as a potential candidate for state office in 2018, being urged by the conservative Madison Project, which backed his Senate bid, to run for governor. He’s also considered a possible candidate in next year’s state attorney general’s race.
