Rep. Diaz-Balart to Newsmax: Venezuelan Corruption Response 'Feckless'

Rep. Mario Diaz-Balart, R-Fla., told Newsmax on Tuesday that the Biden-Harris administration's response to the Venezuelan election turmoil has been "weak" at best and "feckless" at worst.

"There are some really, really, really brave Venezuelans who are trying to recapture and rekindle and reacquire their freedoms and their democracy in Venezuela," Diaz-Balart said during an appearance on Newsmax's "The Record With Greta Van Susteren." "It's a country that had a long tradition of democracy, but has been taken over by this radical, leftist, communist, socialist dictator.

"And, unfortunately, the response from the United States by the Biden-Harris administration has been, at best, weak; at worst, irresponsible and feckless. And so, a really sad situation for the Venezuelans, but they're still fighting; they're still trying to do what they can do.

"And I hope that the Biden administration were to get serious about supporting the opposition. There's a lot that the Biden administration could do to support the Venezuelan people," he said.

Protests spread throughout Venezuela after the election board, which critics claim is in the pocket of a dictatorial government, declared on Monday that long-ruling socialist President Nicolas Maduro won a third term with 51% of the vote. The opposition said the 73% of the vote tallies it had access to showed its candidate Edmundo Gonzalez had won by a landslide.

Diaz-Balart acknowledged that "some very dangerous gangs" have come across the southern border from Venezuela and said "that's a major problem," but said there's another issue "that's not talked about" related to the border.

"The folks that have potential legitimate claims for asylum — I would argue that a lot of Venezuelans probably do, ... a lot of Cubans, a lot of Nicaraguans do — they're really kind of up the creek without a paddle; because the situation in the southern border is so chaotic, it's so broken, that those who have a legitimate claim, those who are trying to do things legitimately and legally are, frankly, in a really, really bad situation precisely because this administration has allowed the entire process and the entire system to just be wrecked entirely and now is being controlled by the narco cartels on the southern border, the Mexican narco cartels."

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