[Congressional Bills 108th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H. Res. 716 Introduced in House (IH)]






108th CONGRESS
  2d Session
H. RES. 716

   Encouraging the people of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela to 
 participate in a constitutional, peaceful, democratic, and electoral 
     solution to the political crisis in Venezuela relating to the 
              referendum to recall President Hugo Chavez.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             July 14, 2004

Mr. Gallegly submitted the following resolution; which was referred to 
                the Committee on International Relations

_______________________________________________________________________

                               RESOLUTION


 
   Encouraging the people of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela to 
 participate in a constitutional, peaceful, democratic, and electoral 
     solution to the political crisis in Venezuela relating to the 
              referendum to recall President Hugo Chavez.

Whereas in August 2002, the Government of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela 
        and several opposition political groups in Venezuela invited the 
        Organization of American States, the United Nations Development Program, 
        and the Carter Center to begin a formal process to help resolve the 
        political crisis in Venezuela;
Whereas the Group of Friends of the Secretary General of the Organization of 
        American States for Venezuela was established on January 15, 2003, and 
        consists of the Governments of Brazil, Chile, Spain, Mexico, Portugal 
        and the United States;
Whereas on February 18, 2003, representatives of the Government of Venezuela and 
        representatives of opposition political groups in Venezuela signed the 
        Declaration Against Violence and for Peace and Democracy;
Whereas on May 29, 2003, representatives of the Government of Venezuela and 
        representatives of opposition political groups in Venezuela signed an 
        agreement, witnessed by the representatives of the Organization of 
        American States and the Carter Center, calling on the Government of 
        Venezuela and these opposition political groups to respect human rights, 
        freedom of expression, and the right to petition for recall referenda of 
        elected officials;
Whereas on August 25, 2003, the Supreme Tribunal of Justice, the highest court 
        in Venezuela, named a five-member provisional National Electoral Council 
        (``CNE'') to organize local and gubernatorial elections in 2004 and to 
        regulate any recall petitions initiated by citizens pursuant to Article 
        72 of the Constitution of Venezuela, which provides for a recall 
        referendum of the President if 20 percent (approximately 2,436,000 
        voters) of all registered voters sign recall petitions;
Whereas from November 21, 2003, to November 24, 2003, a drive was held to 
        collect signatures for petitions to support a referendum to recall 
        members of the National Assembly, the legislature of Venezuela;
Whereas from November 28, 2003, to December 1, 2003, a drive was held to collect 
        signatures for petitions to support a referendum to recall the President 
        of Venezuela;
Whereas accredited observers from the Organization of American States and the 
        Carter Center determined that the petition drives for legislative and 
        Presidential recall referendums had ``sufficient controls, including 
        security paper for the petitions, full identification of the citizen 
        with signature and thumbprint, summary forms (actas) listing the 
        petition (planillas) serial numbers during the collection process, party 
        witnesses, personnel trained and designated by the CNE, verification of 
        each petition form and a cross-check with the summary forms, a cross-
        check of the names with the voters list, and a mechanism for appeal and 
        correction'';
Whereas a petition supporting the recall of the President of Venezuela 
        containing more than 3,000,000 signatures was delivered to the CNE on 
        December 19, 2003;
Whereas the CNE questioned the authenticity of approximately 1,200,000 of the 
        signatures contained in the presidential recall petition and imposed new 
        requirements to verify the authenticity of these signatures;
Whereas on March 2, 2004, the CNE, in a split decision, declared that 876,017 of 
        the signatures contained in the presidential recall petition were not 
        approved as authentic, based on evaluation criteria of the CNE;
Whereas on March 2, 2004, in response to the decision by the CNE to set aside 
        certain signatures in the presidential recall petition, the Organization 
        of American States and the Carter Center concluded that there were 
        discrepancies in the criteria used by the CNE to evaluate signatures, 
        stating: ``We understand the concerns of the CNE, but the evaluation 
        should start from the presumption of the good faith of the citizen as a 
        universal principle.'';
Whereas on March 2, 2004, the Organization of American States and the Carter 
        Center further stated that the invalidated signatures ``occur in such 
        large numbers that they could have an impact on the outcome of the 
        process'';
Whereas on March 15, 2004, the Group of Friends of the Secretary General of the 
        Organization of American States for Venezuela expressed ``concern over 
        the evolution of events related to the possible convocation of recall 
        referenda in the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela pursuant to Article 72 
        of that country's Constitution'';
Whereas the Group of Friends of the Secretary General of the Organization of 
        American States for Venezuela has further stated that ``a prolonged lack 
        of clarity as regards the results of a process begun some months ago 
        cannot contribute to resolving the grave internal political problems in 
        Venezuela'' and that ``it is fundamental that decisions taken by the 
        National Electoral council are timely and transparent to avoid doubts 
        about the statement of popular will'';
Whereas on February 18, 2004, Amnesty International issued a public statement 
        expressing concern about a series of ``random and unsubstantiated 
        allegations'' by the Government of Venezuela and by the President of 
        Venezuela against human rights groups and about the potential that 
        ``slurs and attacks'' could ``expose members of these organizations to 
        serious dangers, including threats and intimidations'';
Whereas on March 18, 2004, the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights of the 
        Organization of American States issued a Report on the Human Rights 
        Situation in Venezuela, that found ``worrisome signs of institutional 
        weakness, including the failure to give full application to the new 
        Constitution, the perception that the branches of government lack 
        independence, the growing concentration of power in the national 
        executive, the impunity in which certain armed civilian groups and para-
        police units operate, the government's tendency to confrontation and 
        disparagement of the political opposition, the constant attacks on 
        journalists and the media, the tendency to militarize the public 
        administration through the increasingly prominent role of the armed 
        forces, the growing radicalization of political postures in the context 
        of popular discontent over unmet social demands, and disputes relating 
        to the exercise of trade union rights'' existed in Venezuela;
Whereas the CNE decided that further validation of the 1,200,000 disputed 
        signatures on presidential recall petitions would occur during the 
        period from May 28, 2004, to May 30, 2004; and
Whereas on June 3, 2004, the CNE announced that a sufficient number of 
        signatures had been secured to require a recall referendum of the 
        President of Venezuela: Now, therefore, be it
    Resolved, That the House of Representatives--
            (1) encourages the people of the Bolivarian Republic of 
        Venezuela to continue to seek to participate in a 
        constitutional, peaceful, democratic, and electoral solution to 
        the political crisis in Venezuela;
            (2) appeals to all sectors of society in Venezuela, 
        including the Government, civil society, and political parties 
        to adhere to the provisions of the Declaration Against Violence 
        and for Peace and Democracy signed by representatives of the 
        Government of Venezuela and representatives of opposition 
        political groups on February 18, 2003;
            (3) calls on the public security forces in Venezuela to 
        respect human rights and due process and to prevent loss of 
        life or the arrests of supporters of the democratic opposition 
        in Venezuela;
            (4) calls on members of the media in Venezuela to be 
        impartial conveyers of the news and to refrain from actions 
        which might encourage violence;
            (5) appeals to the Government of Venezuela and to the 
        democratic opposition to respect the rights of all citizens to 
        freely organize and support political leaders and to conduct 
        peaceful activities in support and defense of human, political, 
        and civil rights;
            (6) appeals to the Government of Venezuela and to the 
        democratic opposition to permit peaceful and democratic civic 
        groups across the political spectrum of Venezuela to receive 
        international training and assistance;
            (7) commends the National Electoral Council for carrying 
        out the validation of signatures on recall petitions in a fair 
        and expeditious manner;
            (8) commends the efforts of the Organization of American 
        States, the Group of Friends of the Secretary General of the 
        Organization of American States for Venezuela, and the Carter 
        Center for assisting the Government of Venezuela and the 
        petitioners seeking the recall of the President and the recall 
        of members of the legislature in Venezuela to ensure that the 
        validation of signatures on the recall petitions by the 
        National Electoral Council was carried out in a fair and 
        expeditious manner;
            (9) calls on the Government of Venezuela and the democratic 
        opposition to support a recall referendum vote that is free, 
        fair, transparent, and in accordance with the Constitution of 
        Venezuela;
            (10) calls on the Government of Venezuela and the 
        democratic opposition to allow observers from the Organization 
        of American States and the Carter Center to freely monitor the 
        recall referendum and subsequent elections, if any;
            (11) calls on the Government of Venezuela and the 
        democratic opposition to avoid reprisals or harassment of any 
        kind against employees of the state and private enterprises for 
        exercising their right to identify with any political party and 
        to treat employees of the state and private enterprises equally 
        before the law;
            (12) commits to respect the outcome of any upcoming recall 
        referendum, if the referendum is conducted in a free, fair, and 
        transparent manner and in accordance with the Constitution of 
        Venezuela; and
            (13) underscores that the success of democracy in Venezuela 
        is of profound importance to the United States and to the 
        countries of the Western Hemisphere.
                                 <all>