Rep. Chris Smith (R-NJ), senior member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, today welcomed the tough sanctions announced by the Trump Administration in response to the horrific human rights abuses of the Maduro regime in Venezuela.

     “We support the Venezuelan people as they work towards reestablishing their rights that have been taken by the red regime that Dictator Nicolás Maduro has imposed on the country,” said Smith, who chairs the House panel on global human rights. “Venezuela, a nation blessed with natural resources, has been reduced to penury, its people on the brink of starvation, by a dictator who jails his opposition, stifles the media and attacks religious leaders.

     “President Trump's decisive Executive Order imposes financial repercussions on the Maduro dictatorship for its oppression. It will stop the underwriting of the regime and help bring about an end to this nightmare for the Venezuelan people.”

     President Trump signed the Executive Order yesterday, August 24, with the sanctions going into effect at a minute after midnight this morning. Vice President Pence unveiled the sanctions on a call with Congressional foreign policy leaders today.

     Starting under now-deceased strongman Hugo Chávez and accelerating under Nicolás Maduro, Venezuela has seen a precipitous drop in living standards while the left-wing dictatorship has consolidated power.

     “We need to continue to do our part to help the Venezuelan people, who are being victimized by their socialist government,” said Smith.

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