[Congressional Bills 113th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. Res. 213 Reported in Senate (RS)]
Calendar No. 201
113th CONGRESS
1st Session
S. RES. 213
Expressing support for the free and peaceful exercise of representative
democracy in Venezuela and condemning violence and intimidation against
the country's political opposition.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
August 1, 2013
Mr. Menendez (for himself, Mr. Rubio, Mr. Nelson, Mr. Kaine, Mr. Udall
of New Mexico, Mr. McCain, Mr. Kirk, Mr. Graham, and Mr. Durbin)
submitted the following resolution; which was referred to the Committee
on Foreign Relations
September 30, 2013
Reported by Mr. Menendez, with an amendment and an amendment to the
preamble and an amendment to the title
[Strike out all after the resolving clause and insert the part printed
in italic]
[Strike the preamble and insert the part printed in italic]
_______________________________________________________________________
RESOLUTION
Expressing support for the free and peaceful exercise of representative
democracy in Venezuela and condemning violence and intimidation against
the country's political opposition.
<DELETED>Whereas the National Electoral Council (CNE) of Venezuela declared
Nicolas Maduro to be the winner of Venezuela's April 14, 2013,
presidential election, after crediting him with receiving 50.6 percent
of votes cast;
Whereas Venezuela's political opposition has highlighted widespread incidents of
potential electoral irregularities, voter intimidation, and other abuses
perpetrated by the Government of Venezuela in favor of the candidacy of
Nicolas Maduro;
Whereas the Organization of American States and other multilateral institutions
called for a full recount and audit that addresses all claims by
participants in the electoral process in Venezuela;
Whereas the Senate of the Republic of Chile, the Christian Democratic
Organization of the Americas, the Socialist International, the Union of
Latin American parties, and other political organizations in the region
have issued declarations recognizing the alleged irregularities
documented by the opposition in Venezuela and urged a complete audit of
the election results;
Whereas the CNE has denied the political opposition's request for a full and
comprehensive audit of the election results that includes the review and
comparison of voter registry log books, vote tallies produced by
electronic voting machines, and the paper receipts printed by electronic
voting machines;
Whereas the Preamble of the Charter of the Organization of American States
affirms that ``representative democracy is an indispensable condition
for the stability, peace and development of the region,'' and Article 1
of the Inter-American Democratic Charter recognizes that ``the people of
the Americas have a right to democracy and their governments have an
obligation to promote and defend it'';
Whereas the republican form of government prescribed in the Constitution of the
Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela has its legislative branch in the
National Assembly, where the free participation and deliberation of its
democratically elected representatives is essential to legislate and
check the powers of the executive branch;
Whereas the President of the National Assembly denied opposition parties the
right to speak in the legislature from April 16 to May 21, 2013, and
removed them from key committees in response to their refusal to
recognize Nicolas Maduro as president;
Whereas members of the ruling United Socialist Party of Venezuela (PSUV)
violently assaulted opposition legislators on April 16 and April 30,
2013, in the National Assembly, causing lacerations, broken bones, and
other injuries to members of the political opposition;
Whereas the Department of State responded to the violence against opposition
legislators in Venezuela by declaring that ``violence has no place in a
representative and democratic system, and is particularly inappropriate
in the National Assembly'';
Whereas the Secretary General of the Organization of American States (OAS) has
repudiated the incident by stating that it ``reflects, in a dramatic
manner, the absence of a political dialogue that can bring tranquility
to the citizens and to the members of the different public powers to
resolve in a peaceful climate and with everybody's participation the
pending matters of the country'';
Whereas the Congress of the Republic of Peru passed a resolution rejecting the
use of violence against opposition parties in the Venezuelan National
Assembly and expressing solidarity with those injured by the events of
April 2013; and
Whereas, as a member of the Organization of American States and signatory to the
Inter-American Democratic Charter, the Bolivarian Government of
Venezuela has agreed to abide by the principles of constitutional,
representative democracy, which include free and fair elections and
adherence to its own constitution: Now, therefore, be it
</DELETED>Whereas the Constitution of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela
guarantees its citizens full political rights, including the right to
freely associate for democratic political purposes, and the right to a
secret ballot through regular free, universal, direct elections and
referenda;
Whereas the Preamble of the Charter of the Organization of American States
affirms that ``representative democracy is an indispensable condition
for the stability, peace and development of the region,'' and Article 1
of the Inter-American Democratic Charter recognizes that ``the people of
the Americas have a right to democracy and their governments have an
obligation to promote and defend it'';
Whereas the National Electoral Council (CNE) of Venezuela declared Nicolas
Maduro to have been elected in Venezuela's April 14, 2013, presidential
election, with 50.6 percent of votes cast;
Whereas the Senate of the Republic of Chile, the Christian Democratic
Organization of the Americas, the Socialist International, the Union of
Latin American parties, and other political organizations in the region
issued declarations recognizing the alleged irregularities documented by
the opposition in Venezuela and urged a complete audit of the election
results;
Whereas the Supreme Court of Venezuela refused to hear legal cases presented by
the political opposition regarding alleged violations of electoral law,
and the CNE denied the opposition's request for a full and comprehensive
audit of the election results that includes the review and comparison of
voter registry log books, vote tallies produced by electronic voting
machines, and the paper receipts printed by electronic voting machines;
Whereas Venezuela's Unified Democratic Platform (MUD) has formally requested the
Inter-American Commission on Human Rights to conduct an impartial review
of alleged violations of Venezuelans' civic rights through electoral
irregularities, voter intimidation, and other abuses in the April 2013
elections, and the Government of Venezuela subsequently announced its
withdrawal from the Inter-American Court on Human Rights;
Whereas, in response to the political opposition's decision not to recognize
Nicolas Maduro as President, legislators from opposition parties in
Venezuela were denied the right to speak and removed from key committees
by the President of the National Assembly, were violently assaulted by
members of the ruling United Socialist Party of Venezuela (PSUV), and
increasingly face the prospect of politically-motivated criminal
charges;
Whereas the Congress of the Republic of Peru passed a resolution rejecting the
use of violence against opposition parties in the Venezuelan National
Assembly and expressing solidarity with those injured by the events of
April 2013, and the Department of State responded to the violence
against opposition legislators in Venezuela by declaring that ``violence
has no place in a representative and democratic system, and is
particularly inappropriate in the National Assembly'';
Whereas the Secretary General of the Organization of American States (OAS)
repudiated the incident by stating that it ``reflects, in a dramatic
manner, the absence of a political dialogue that can bring tranquility
to the citizens and to the members of the different public powers to
resolve in a peaceful climate and with everybody's participation the
pending matters of the country''; and
Whereas, as a member of the Organization of American States and signatory to the
Inter-American Democratic Charter, the Bolivarian Government of
Venezuela has agreed to abide by the principles of constitutional,
representative democracy, which include free and fair elections and
adherence to its own constitution: Now, therefore, be it
Resolved, That the Senate--
<DELETED> (1) supports the people of Venezuela in their
pursuit of the free exercise of representative democracy in
Venezuela;</DELETED>
<DELETED> (2) calls for greater dialogue between all
political actors in Venezuela and strongly deplores the
undemocratic denial of legitimate parliamentary rights to
members of opposition parties in the National Assembly and the
inexcusable violence perpetrated against opposition legislators
inside the legislative chambers of Venezuela;</DELETED>
<DELETED> (3) commends legislators from other nations in the
Americas who have declared their opposition to political
irregularities and the use of violence against opposition
parliamentarians in Venezuela;</DELETED>
<DELETED> (4) urges the Organization of American States to
issue a detailed report on any and all irregularities resulting
from the April 14, 2013, presidential election in
Venezuela;</DELETED>
<DELETED> (5) urges the United States Ambassador to the
Organization of American States to work in concert with other
member states to use the full power of the organization in
support of meaningful steps to ensure full parliamentary
democracy and the rule of law in Venezuela in accordance with
the Inter-American Democratic Charter, including invoking
articles related to unconstitutional interruptions of the
democratic order in a member state; and</DELETED>
<DELETED> (6) urges the United States Ambassador to the
Organization of American States to work in concert with other
member states to strengthen the ability of the Organization to
protect democratic institutions and to respond to the erosion
of democracy in member states.</DELETED>
(1) supports the people of Venezuela in their pursuit of
the free exercise of representative democracy as guaranteed by
the Constitution of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela;
(2) deplores the undemocratic denial of the legitimate
rights of opposition parliamentarians in Venezuela, the
inexcusable violence perpetrated against opposition legislators
inside chambers of the National Assembly, and the growing
efforts to use politically-motivated criminal charges to
intimidate the country's political opposition;
(3) commends legislators from other countries in the
Americas who have declared their opposition to alleged
electoral irregularities and condemned the use of violence
against opposition parliamentarians in Venezuela;
(4) urges the Department of State to work in concert with
other countries in the Americas to take meaningful steps to
ensure the rule of law in Venezuela in accordance with the
Inter-American Democratic Charter and to strengthen the ability
of the Organization of American States to respond to the
erosion of democratic norms and institutions in member states;
and
(5) calls for the United States to work with other
countries in the hemisphere to actively encourage a process of
dialogue between the Government of Venezuela and the political
opposition through the good offices of the Organization of
American States so that the voices of all Venezuelans can be
taken into account through their country's constitutional
institutions and free and fair elections.
Amend the title so as to read: ``A resolution expressing
support for the free and peaceful exercise of representative
democracy in Venezuela, condemning violence and intimidation
against the country's political opposition, and calling for
dialogue between all political actors in the country.''.
Calendar No. 201
113th CONGRESS
1st Session
S. RES. 213
_______________________________________________________________________
RESOLUTION
Expressing support for the free and peaceful exercise of representative
democracy in Venezuela and condemning violence and intimidation against
the country's political opposition.
_______________________________________________________________________
September 30, 2013
Reported with an amendment and an amendment to the preamble and an
amendment to the title