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Diaz-Balart Calls for Immediate Release of Antonio Ledezma and Leopoldo Lopez

February 20, 2015

WASHINGTON D.C. – Congressman Mario Diaz-Balart (R-FL) released the following statement following reports of the arrest of Mayor Antonio Ledezma and violent attacks on Leopoldo Lopez in prison.

"I am profoundly concerned for the safety of pro-democracy leaders in Venezuela as the Maduro regime initiates another brutal crackdown on his courageous opponents.

"As the human rights situation is rapidly deteriorating and Venezuela's prisons swell with Maduro's political opponents, the international community must demand the immediate release of Mayor Antonio Ledezma and Leopoldo Lopez, and an immediate halt to the harassment of Maduro's opponents such as Maria Corina Machado, who was removed from her elected position in the National Assembly, charged with crimes based on fabricated evidence, and subjected to numerous violent attacks.

"Maduro is desperate to cling to power. The Chavez-Maduro legacy of skyrocketing inflation, shortages, corruption, repression, and intolerance for any opposition has bankrupted Venezuela, corrupted its democratic institutions, and suppressed a once vibrant civil society. Many of Venezuela's viable, capable leaders are in captivity or persevering under the constant threat of it. The United States cannot tolerate these egregious human rights abuses and the near total abandonment of democratic principles in our hemisphere. The Obama Administration must lead the international community in unequivocally demanding the immediate release of Mayor Ledezma, opposition leader Lopez, and all of Venezuela's other political prisoners."