'The World Knows What Happened At The Ballot Box': Cassidy Slams Maduro For Fixing Election

3 months ago

During remarks on the Senate floor, Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-LA) spoke about the election in Venezuela that saw Nicolas Maduro retain power despite numerous accusations of voter fraud and suppression.

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Transcript

00:00Madam President, for 25 years the Venezuelan people have suffered.

00:04They have endured the Chavez-Maduro despotic regimes.

00:08Regimes that stole their money, ruined their country's infrastructure,

00:12destroyed public services, tortured their politicians,

00:15and tried to destabilize the whole region.

00:19One little factoid.

00:21At one point, Venezuela had the third richest economy in the Western Hemisphere per capita,

00:27and now their per capita income is that of Haiti.

00:31They've gone from third to being the worst.

00:35But Venezuela's freedom-loving citizens kept fighting.

00:39Yesterday, again, they went out to vote for freedom

00:41in a movement led by Maria Corina Machado,

00:44the opposition leader who was herself barred from running,

00:48and Edmundo Gonzalez, the opposition's candidate.

00:52The result was an overwhelming, overwhelming win for the opposition and for democracy.

00:59And here's Maria, and here's Edmundo.

01:05Multiple exit polls and quick counts showed the opposition winning by more than 30%.

01:11Edmundo Gonzalez won with the largest landslide in Venezuelan history.

01:16This landslide win comes despite the regime's efforts

01:20that barred the vast majority of the 8 million Venezuelan exiles from voting.

01:25The real electoral numbers were so bad

01:29that the regime simply stopped counting votes and made up numbers.

01:34Now, Venezuelans obviously want change, and the regime does not.

01:38They are desperately holding on to whatever power they can grab.

01:41This is a critical moment in our hemisphere.

01:44Do they have to wait another 25 years of tyranny and repression

01:49when they're just three hours from the United States?

01:52Do we, the United States, allow the Russians, the Chinese Communist Party,

01:57drug cartels, Iran, and others to use Venezuela as ground zero

02:02in their plans to harm the United States and our allies in the hemisphere?

02:06Do we allow Venezuela's collapse to eventually flood the United States with refugees?

02:12We need to change course.

02:14It starts by recognizing President-elect Edmundo Gonzalez.

02:18It starts with an international coalition to ensure the political transition

02:22that Venezuelans already began at the polling booth.

02:25The world knows what happened at the ballot box over the weekend,

02:28but we must have the courage to come together, stand against Maduro,

02:32and tell him, not this time.

02:35I stand here today saying so, not this time.

02:39Maria Corina has always said her fight will go until the end, as she puts it.

02:45The free world must ensure that this is not the end.

02:48With that, I yield.

'The World Knows What Happened At The Ballot Box': Cassidy Slams Maduro For Fixing Election

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