Ilhan,

When you were elected in 2018, I celebrated that for the first time in American history, a Somali-American refugee would serve in the House of Representatives. I believed that your experience fleeing a war-torn nation as a child would mean people with a similar experience would have an advocate in Congress. 

Who better to stand up to corrupt power than someone who lost their home because of an authoritarian regime? 

You’d think. 

Instead, I have watched you use your voice to absolve the Nicolas Maduro dictatorship of guilt by blaming the United States for the Venezuelan tragedy, the worst our hemisphere has seen in recent history. 

As a Venezuelan, immigrant, woman of color who believes in a woman’s right to choose, man-made climate change, and the importance of standing against bigotry wherever it emerges, I feel compelled to tell you that you have become that which you supposedly oppose.

Your rhetoric against the move for Venezuelan freedom has grown increasingly unhinged, reaching a low point during your interview with Democracy Now!, which aired just one day after thousands of unarmed Venezuelans took to the streets to demand dignity – once again – as the dictator unleashed violence on them.

U.S. policies and “bullying” are to blame for the crisis, you said, defending the man most Venezuelans see as the worst thing that has happened to our nation – second only to Hugo Chavez. 

What’s worse, when your comments received backlash, you doubled down and attributed any criticism to racism and sexism. 

With your shameful, stubborn statements on Venezuela, you have taught me a lesson I hope all Venezuelans will learn – You have shown me what it’s like when a victim becomes the victimizer.

I will never become a fanatic of the right because my country was ruined by a movement that calls itself leftist. I will not turn my back on the oppressed because their story doesn’t match my narrative. I will always put people first.

Your words about Venezuela not only lack empathy for those suffering at the hands of one of the most evil regimes the world has seen, they also show your inability, or, worse, your lack of desire to listen to their voices.

Your ideological blind spot is exposed by the fact that you speak against sanctions on Maduro, while simultaneously demanding Israelis be punished with a worldwide boycott for their treatment of Palestinians.

Do you know that young Venezuelans face Maduro’s army and militias armed with only rocks, much like Palestinians who fight Israeli soldiers?

Unfortunately, like you, many in the U.S. who say they stand for social justice have fallen into the well-funded Chavista propaganda machine, repeating the talking points created by a regime looking to hide that they are behind the worst looting of a country possibly ever.

I want to be clear: We are not asking that you support American intervention in Venezuela. What we are asking is that you listen to the voices pleading with you to better study the issue. There are all types of reliable resources available about what lead Venezuela to the crisis it faces today.

We’re asking that you don’t continue defending a regime that has forced 10 percent of our population to flee in just three years. That has made food, medicine and birth control virtually impossible to find. That has made our once-prosperous country one of the most miserable places on earth.

I understand Donald Trump is often engaged in shady pursuits, but in this case, he’s on the right side. You don’t have to take Republicans’ words for it, you just have to listen to Venezuelans.

But trying to convince you that Maduro is our oppressor has been like trying to convince Trump that climate change is real. You refuse to consider evidence, and instead go with ideology.

Still, I hope you will meet with your Venezuelan constituents. I’m sure there are some.

If not, there are plenty of Venezuelans willing to tell you how we witnessed the slow destruction of our nation by a small elite. No one told us about it. We saw our basic resources disappear in front of our eyes, along with our liberties.

Until you do, I and hundreds of thousands of Venezuelans will remind the world that you stand with those who destroyed our country and condemned our people to a life of no opportunity. As you’ve probably noticed by now, we’re pretty passionate people.