Legislators condemn arrival of U.S. officials in Venezuela

News about the trip of senior U.S. officials to Venezuela on Saturday to meet with the regime of Nicolás Maduro and attempt to isolate Russia from its allies did not go down well with some members of the U.S. Congress.

Florida Republican Congressman Mario Diaz-Balart expressed his disapproval of the trip on his Twitter account.

"It is outrageous that while Putin ruthlessly murders women and children, the Biden Administration is trying to make deals with other murderous tyrants in Venezuela and Iran," tweeted the Florida congressman.

"Biden should stand up for freedom and human rights and not shamelessly enrich malevolent regimes,” he added.

Es indignante que mientras Putin asesina despiadadamente a mujeres y niños, la Admin Biden esté tratando de hacer tratos con otros tiranos asesinos en #Venezuela e #Irán. Biden debe defender la libertad y los derechos humanos, y no enriquecer descaradamente a regímenes malévolos.

— Mario Diaz-Balart (@MarioDB) March 7, 2022

Senator Marco Rubio also criticized the Biden Administration for allegedly seeking Venezuelan oil to replace Russian crude.

"Venezuela's oil industry is a disaster that produces 10% of what Cuba exports. Ukraine is just an excuse for Obama's pro-left ex-employees who wanted to get closer to Maduro and Cuba," Rubio posted on his Twitter account.

Las charlas secretas de #Biden con el régimen d #Maduro no se trata d reemplazar el petróleo d 🇷🇺.La industria petrolera d 🇻🇪 es un desastre q produce el 10% de lo q exporta 🇨🇺.🇺🇦 es solo una excusa para los ex-empleados pro-izquierdistas d Obama q querían acercarse a Maduro y 🇨🇺

— Marco Rubio (@marcorubio) March 7, 2022

The news about the visit of senior U.S. officials was shared by The New York Times. The news outlet claimed that the current visit to Caracas responds to an interest on the part of Washington to be able to replace part of the oil it currently buys from Russia with the oil it stopped buying from Venezuela.

The White House said on Friday it is considering different options to reduce imports from Russia following the invasion of Ukraine without harming U.S. consumers while maintaining global supply.