US congress receives Chavez's domestic foes

(Press TV) -- US Congress receives the domestic opponents of Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez with open arms giving voice to their dislike of the socialist leader.

At the invitation of the American House of Representatives, a delegation of Venezuela's opposition leaders arrived in Washington on Monday.

Republican representatives, against US President Barack Obama's recent overtures towards Caracas, sympathized with the group who included several provincial governors.

The most high-profile among the group was the mayor of the Venezuelan capital, Antonio Ledezma known for his six-day hunger strike after Chavez curtailed his authorities.

He said "the president is destroying democracy and using his power to further his personal ambitions."

"We want the US congress to know that they are freedom fighters…that they are the people speaking out on behalf of democracy and human rights," the House's most senior female Republican and ranking member on the Foreign Affairs Committee, Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, who had extended the invitation told Press TV's Washington correspondent Ernie Cruise.

"We want that Venezuelan contingent to know that they are not alone," she added.

Lincoln Diaz-Balart (R-Florida) said "We admire those very brave opposition leaders and we are here to support them. We know how tough their fight is inside Venezuela."

The comments contrasted with the relatively softened tone the that US and Venezuela have adopted despite fierce political confrontation under the former American administration.

"Chavez…has kicked out the Drug Enforcement Agency and says that they are part of the drug cartel. There is no end to the lunacy of Hugo Chavez' statements," Ros-Lehtinen concluded.