{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["http://ros-lehtinen.house.gov/press-release/ros-lehtinen-comments-legislative-elections-venezuela", "Ros-Lehtinen Comments on Legislative Elections In Venezuela", "2015-12-07", "2015", "2015-12", "Republican", "House", "FL", "Ileana Ros-Lehtinen", "R000435", "ros-lehtinen.house.gov", null, null, "legacy", "Ros-Lehtinen Comments on Legislative Elections In Venezuela\n(Washington, DC) - Congresswoman Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, Chairman of the Subcommittee on the Middle East and North Africa, made the following statement regarding Venezuela's legislative elections. Statement by Ros-Lehtinen:\nIn spite of many challenges, the Venezuelan opposition has been able to gain control of the National Assembly. However, we must understand what the opposition was up against due to the electoral arbiters behavior in the lead up to the elections. By refusing a reputable international accredited monitoring mission, limiting the playing field by refusing candidates - such as Maria Corina Machado and Leopoldo Lopez - to stand for election, and not allowing opposition candidates fair access to mass media, the CNE and the Maduro regime used their control to impact the outcome of the elections.\nThroughout election day, reports surfaced of voting irregularities such as pressuring voters at precincts, armed groups intimidating voters, and Maduro with the help of his cronies revoking the credentials of former Latin America presidents.\nThe Obama administration may see these results as an excuse to further delay the application of pressure on the Maduro regime. In order to defend democracy and freedom of expression in Venezuela, I call on the Administration to denounce the environment leading up to the elections and impose sanctions on those individuals that caused voting irregularities on election day, a dangerous atmosphere for opposition political parties, and a lopsided playing field. The continued assaults on democracy by the Maduro regime, such as the sentencing of Leopoldo and the assassination of Luis Manuel Diaz during the campaign, must be a catalyst to impose further sanctions on the regime officials who perpetrate these human rights abuses.", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["http://ros-lehtinen.house.gov/press-release/ros-lehtinen-comments-legislative-elections-venezuela"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 1.4908518642187119, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}