WASHINGTON – U.S. Senators Jim Risch (R-Idaho), ranking member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, and Marco Rubio (R-Fla.), ranking member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee Subcommittee on the Western Hemisphere, today released the following statement on recent violent attacks on opposition party members in Honduras:
“We strongly condemn President Xiomara Castro’s continued efforts to undermine the separation of powers in Honduras. The recent acts of violence by Libre Party ‘colectivos’ against members of the National Congress in order to impose a false attorney general undermine Honduras’ democratic institutions. The next attorney general must be elected with the constitutionally required 86 votes.
“The United States supports those seeking to safeguard democracy and the rule of law in Honduras. President Biden should fully deploy the tools authorized by Congress under Section 212(a)(3)(C) of the Immigration and Nationality Act and other legal authorities to impose sanctions on all those seeking to undermine democracy in Honduras. The voice of the Honduran people must be respected.”
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