North Miami-Dade News

Today, the House of Representatives passed H.R. 825, known as the Banning Operations and Leases with the Illegitimate Venezuelan Authoritarian Regime Act or the BOLIVAR Act. This legislation was cosponsored by Rep. María Elvira Salazar (R-FL).

The bill comes in response to Nicolás Maduro's alleged attempt to manipulate the July 28 presidential election in Venezuela. The United States supports the opposition led by María Corina Machado and President-elect Edmundo González Urrutia. The BOLIVAR Act, spearheaded by Reps. Mike Waltz (R-FL) and Debbie Wasserman Schultz, aims to freeze assets available to Maduro, increasing pressure on his government.

“By passing the BOLIVAR Act, the House of Representatives is sending the clear message that the United States will never do business with a tyrant like Maduro,” stated Rep. María Elvira Salazar, Chairwoman of the Western Hemisphere Subcommittee in the House Foreign Affairs Committee. “Edmundo González Urrutia won the election in July even after Maduro cheated, and no amount of repression will hide that simple truth from the Venezuelan people. Maduro’s time is up, and he knows it.”

Since July 28, Chairwoman Salazar has supported Venezuelan opposition candidate Edmundo González Urrutia and leader María Corina Machado. She collaborated with colleagues on introducing bills such as the REVOCAR Act and VALOR Act to cut financial support for Maduro's regime during increased repression against opposition figures.

Salazar also led efforts for reauthorizing sanctions through the VERDAD Reauthorization Act, continuing measures from the VERDAD Act of 2019.

For more information on this legislation, access to its full text is available.