Florida Republican Senator Marco Rubio and Governor Rick Scott spoke to hundreds outside the El Arepazo 2 restaurant in the city of Doral, and expressed their support for those rallying against the Venezuelan government.
Senator Rubio has introduced a resolution along with Democratic Senator Robert Menendez asking for the administration to consider putting in place individual sanctions "against those in the Venezuelan government who hold assets, property and travel visas to the U.S.,” Rubio said to the Miami Herald.
“What a lot of these people are doing is they’re stealing money in Venezuela because of their governmental power or are unfairly getting access to it. And then they come to Miami with their families on the weekends,” he said.
Senator Menendez said in a joint statement with Rubio , "Venezuelans today are denied basic rights, freedoms, and the ability to peacefully protest the dire economic circumstances caused by President Maduro and his government. We stand with the Venezuelan people and the brave opposition leaders in their pursuit to build a more hopeful Venezuela that embraces a bright future while discarding a failed past."
Governor Scott sent a letter to President Barack Obama asking him to consider sanctions as well as the revocation of visas to anyone in the Venezuelan government involved in attacks on protesters.