US Senate Passes Bill Allowing Sanctioning of Venezuela Officials Believed to Have Violated Venezuelan Protesters' Rights

On Monday, the U.S. Senate passed a bill that directs President Barack Obama to levy sanctions against Venezuelan government officials who are found to have violated the rights of anti-government protesters.

The Venezuela Defense of Human Rights and Civil Society Act, which passed in a voice vote on Monday evening, authorizes sanctions that would freeze the assets and ban the visas of individuals involved in violating the human rights of those opposing the Latin American country’s current socialist regime.

In February thousands of activists who took part in anti-government protests in Venezuela were arrested.

Between February and May, over 40 people on both sides of Venezuela’s political divide were murdered during the anti-government protests.

"For too long, Venezuelans have faced state-sponsored violence at the hands of government security forces and watched their country's judiciary become a tool of political repression," Sen. Robert Menendez, chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and the author of the bipartisan bill, said according to The Associated Press.

Maria Corina Machado, a leading opposition figure in Venezuela, recently learned she is being charged with conspiracy in connection with an alleged plot to kill President Nicolas Maduro. Macahado believes this accusation is an attempt to silence her and other critics of the government.

Earlier this year, working with fellow opposition leader Leopoldo Lopez (who was arrested nine months ago for his involvement in anti-government protests), Machado called on tens of thousands to march into the streets and demonstrate against the government.

Sen. Menendez believes that Venezuelan leaders such as Lopez and Machado have become the targets of government-led campaigns that seeks to silence them for speaking out in defense of democracy and the rule of law.

"We in the United States have an obligation to shine a bright spotlight on Venezuela's abuses and must object to the severe human rights violations committed by the Maduro government and his paramilitary thugs," she said in a statement.