WASHINGTON, Feb 5, 2019 (BSS/AFP) – Nobel Peace Prize winner Nadia Murad
and Venezuelan opposition leader Juan Guaido’s envoy to Washington are among
the top guests invited to attend US President Donald Trump’s State of the
Union address, lawmakers announced Monday.
In keeping with tradition, the 535 members of the US Congress may invite
someone to accompany them to the annual speech, to be held Tuesday, where the
president is expected to tout his accomplishments and outlines his vision for
the future.
It’s an occasion for the Democrats, Republicans and independents of the
100-member Senate and 435-member House of Representatives to bring guests who
symbolize policy goals and bring attention to the causes they hold dear.
Murad, an Iraqi Yazidi woman who escaped the clutches of the Islamic State
group to become a leading campaigner against sexual violence in war, and
Carlos Vecchio, whom the US has recognized as Venezuela’s top diplomat in
Washington, are among the high-profile guests this year.
Murad was invited by Jeff Fortenberry, a Republican congressman for
Nebraska, who said the 26-year-old’s tale “is a story the world needs to
hear.”
“I am so honored that she will be my guest at this year’s State of the
Union,” he added.
IS fighters swept into Murad’s village, Kojo, in August 2014, killing the
men, taking children captive to train them as fighters and condemning
thousands of women to a life of forced labor and sexual slavery.
Murad was taken to Mosul, the Iraqi “capital” of the IS’s self-declared
caliphate. She was held captive there and repeatedly gang-raped, tortured and
beaten.
IS fighters wanted “to take our honor, but they lost their honor,” she has
said about the ordeal.
– ‘Tireless advocate’ –
Vecchio, who has lived in exile since 2014, was invited by Republican
Senator Marco Rubio of Florida, who has called him a “tireless advocate for
the restoration of democracy and freedom of his beloved homeland.”
“I anticipate President Trump will reemphasize his administration’s stance
against tyrannical leaders in Latin America and in support of the people of
Venezuela,” Rubio said.
Venezuelan opposition chief Juan Guaido declared himself interim president
last month, triggering an ongoing standoff with socialist leader Nicolas
Maduro.
Britain, France and Spain were among 16 European nations to side with
Guaido on Monday, following in the footsteps of key regional powers and the
United States, which has refused to rule out a military intervention in the
crisis-wracked country.
Republican Senator Thom Tillis meanwhile announced he would be bringing
Pastor Andrew Brunson, who was freed from a Turkish jail after spending a
year and a half there and becoming a cause celebre for Trump’s conservative
Christian base.
Democratic Senator Jeff Merkeley of Oregon will be accompanied by a
Guatemalan mother and daughter who were separated at the Mexico border in
2018 — highlighting the plight of thousands of others who faced similar
circumstances due to Trump’s hardline immigration policies.
Republicans on the other hand have invited border patrol agents who
fiercely defend the president’s fight against illegal border crossings.