Sen. Cruz to Venezuelan Generals: Maduro Will Have No Friends Regardless of the Venezuelan Election Results
WASHINGTON, D.C. - U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas), member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, during Tuesday's hearing questioned the Honorable Elliott Abrams, Special Representative for Venezuela, on what more Congress can do to support a political transition in Venezuela. During the hearing, Sen. Cruz also raised his concerns on the plight of the CITGO6 executives. Watch Sen. Cruz's full line of questioning here. Excerpts are below.
WATCH: Cruz & Elliot Abrams Talk Venezuela, Maduro, & CITGO 6 at Senate Foreign Relations Hearing
During his line of questioning, Sen. Cruz asked about the United States' efforts to accelerate a political transition in Venezuela and what more could be done to bring military leaders there on board:
"What more in terms of carrot and stick can Congress do and can the administration do to change the calculus for the generals and admirals so that they come to the unequivocal conclusion, ‘it is much, much worse for me, if Maduro stays in power than if this illegitimate regime is toppled' and if instead you have a democratically legitimate government in Venezuela?"
Mr. Abrams responded:
"I actually think the best thing we could do would be a bipartisan expression that this policy is not going to change. It has support in both parties. We are not going to let up on the sanctions. We are not going to let up on the criminal prosecutions. We're going to stay with it, so this is going to keep on going year-after-year until this regime is replaced."
Sen. Cruz continued, urging his colleagues to support the administration's efforts to bring about a political transition:
"I think that's a good invitation. I know this committee has acted in a bipartisan manner before. I think that would be a very positive thing if this committee were to come together and do that again to make clear that Maduro will have no friends regardless of what happens in an election 91 days from now."
Sen. Cruz concluded his questioning by asking Mr. Abrams about the plight of the CITGO6 executives held captive and what the administration is doing to bring about their safe return to the United States:
"As you know, for over two years, six Americans - and five of them [are] from Texas - have been imprisoned in Venezuela related to charges manufactured about their work for CITGO. They have missed birthdays, they've missed weddings, they've missed funerals. They're imprisoned in inhumane conditions. They're subject to abuse. Their families continue to live in fear for their health and well-being. Last week, two of the men were re-released to house arrest, but a lot more needs to be done. What is the status of your efforts to make sure that the CITGO6 are brought home?"
Mr. Abrams responded:
"We're in touch with the families. We're in touch with anyone who is trying to help and that would include Governor Richardson who was down there a couple of weeks ago. We have made and we continue to make a [...] global diplomatic effort with the governments of Mexico, Spain, Argentina, with the Vatican. We keep asking ourselves who can we go back to, who's somebody new who has influence in Caracas? What can we do to increase the pressure or the inducements on the regime? Moving to the house arrest again is a positive step. We hope that the next step is the other four go to house arrest as a step toward getting home. It's been since 2017. It's gone on for two and a half years now and they belong home with their families. These men have never had a trial."
In April of 2019, Sen. Cruz met with families of the CITGO6 executives held captive in Venezuela. Sen. Cruz has repeatedly spoken out against the unlawful imprisonment of these Americans, and urged the new Venezuelan government to work with the U.S. to secure their safe return.
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