Ileana Ros-Lehtinen Warns as Maduro Takes More Power in Venezuela

U.S. Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, R-Fla., one of the leading Republican voices on international affairs, issued a warning on Saturday after the Venezuelan National Assembly granted more power to Nicolas Maduro.

By making another power grab through decree, Maduro is attempting to distract away from the reality that it is his own disastrous policies that have caused Venezuelas economy to spiral out of control, Ros-Lehtinen said. This is all smoke and mirrors from Maduro, arguing he needs these decree powers to counter the sanctions that the Obama administration just levied against members of his corrupt regime. The truth is the sanctions imposed by the U.S. did not impact the people of Venezuela nor the economy, but rather targeted specific human rights violators within the regime but these thugs never let the truth stand in the way of a good story.

This trick of blaming the U.S. for the Venezuelan regimes own failures is straight from the playbook of Maduros handlers in Havana, but no one should be fooled by this charade and his desperate attempts to cling on to power by any means, Ros-Lehtinen added. Responsible nations in the hemisphere must not remain silent as this renewed power grab takes place, for the sake of Venezuelans and their fundamental freedoms.