By Carlos Camacho in Caracas.
The “Banning Operations and Leases with Illegitimate Authoritarian Regime Act” introduced before the US Congress on Jan. 28, will ensure that US taxpayer dollars do not go to companies that do business with the Nicolas Maduro regime.
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The name of the act also forms an acronym, in case you did not notice, for Bolivar, as in Simon Bolivar, the Venezuelan historical figure who freed almost all of South America from Spanish Colonial rule.
According to Congresswoman Maria Elvira Salazar and co-sponsor, Congressman Michael Waltz, the bill is intended to prevent the US Government from hiring people who do business with Chavismo. The bill is co-sponsored by Congressmen Debbie Wasserman, Mario Diaz Balart, Stephanie Murphy, Maria Salazar, Carlos Gimenez, Jennifer Gonzalez-Colon, Alcee Hastings, Bill Pose, Matt Gaetz, and Brian Fitzpatrick.
“The United States must use all means necessary to strip any funding mechanism that helps bolster the illegitimate of Maduro and corrupt socialist regime,” Congressman Waltz told El Pitazo.
The Bolivar Act would prohibit the head of an executive agency from entering into a contract for the procurement of goods or services with any person who has business dealings with the Maduro administration. The Maduro regime has already corrupted high-profile US citizens as college professor Bruce Bagley, who is now serving a 10-year sentence for money laundering.
“We must not allow Maduro to line his pockets while the Venezuelan people starve. This legislation guarantees that no US taxpayer dollars go to any company that does business with criminal enterprises linked to Maduro,” Salazar said.
“To do business with a criminal and murderous Maduro regime will only prolong the pain inflicted on the Venezuelan people,” said Florida Congresswoman Wasserman.
Congressman Waltz previously secured a ban on contracts with the Maduro government through the Department of Defense in the FY 2020 National Defense Authorization Act; this bill would apply the same prohibition to all other federal departments and agencies.
