[Congressional Bills 114th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. Res. 537 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

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114th CONGRESS
  2d Session
S. RES. 537

  Expressing profound concern about the ongoing political, economic, 
  social and humanitarian crisis in Venezuela, urging the release of 
  political prisoners, and calling for respect of constitutional and 
                         democratic processes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                             July 14, 2016

   Mr. Cardin (for himself, Mr. Rubio, Mr. Durbin, Mr. Menendez, Mr. 
 Nelson, Mr. Kaine, Mr. Kirk, Mr. Gardner, Mrs. Boxer, and Mr. Blunt) 
submitted the following resolution; which was referred to the Committee 
                          on Foreign Relations

_______________________________________________________________________

                               RESOLUTION


 
  Expressing profound concern about the ongoing political, economic, 
  social and humanitarian crisis in Venezuela, urging the release of 
  political prisoners, and calling for respect of constitutional and 
                         democratic processes.

Whereas the deterioration of basic governance and the economic crisis in 
        Venezuela have reached deeply troubling levels, which in turn have led 
        to an unprecedented humanitarian situation in Venezuela where millions 
        of people are suffering from severe shortages of essential medicines and 
        basic food products;
Whereas Venezuela lacks more than 80 percent of the basic medical supplies and 
        equipment needed to treat its population, including medicine to treat 
        chronic illnesses and cancer as well as basic antibiotics, and 85 
        percent of pharmacies are at risk of bankruptcy, according to the 
        Venezuelan Pharmaceutical Federation;
Whereas, despite the massive shortages of basic foodstuffs and essential 
        medicines, President of Venezuela Nicolas Maduro has rejected repeated 
        requests from the majority of members of the National Assembly and civil 
        society organizations to bring humanitarian aid into the country;
Whereas the International Monetary Fund assesses that, in Venezuela, inflation 
        reached 275 percent and gross domestic product contracted 5.7 percent in 
        2015, and further projects that inflation will reach 720 percent and the 
        gross domestic product will contract an additional 8 percent in 2016;
Whereas Venezuela's political, economic, and humanitarian crisis is fueling 
        social tensions that are resulting in growing incidents of public 
        unrest, looting, and violence among citizens;
Whereas these social distortions are taking place amidst an alarming climate of 
        violence as Caracas continues to have the highest per capita homicide 
        rate in the world at 120 per 100,000 citizens, according to the United 
        Nations Office on Drug and Crime;
Whereas the deterioration of governance in Venezuela has been exacerbated by 
        widespread public corruption and the involvement of public officials in 
        illicit narcotics trafficking and related money laundering, which has 
        led to indictments by the United States Department of Justice and 
        ongoing investigations by the United States Department of Treasury and 
        the United States Drug Enforcement Administration;
Whereas domestic and international human rights groups recognize more than 85 
        political prisoners in Venezuela, including opposition leader and former 
        Chacao mayor Leopoldo Lopez, Judge Maria Lourdes Afiuni, Caracas Mayor 
        Antonio Ledezma, former Zulia governor Manuel Rosales, and former San 
        Cristobal mayor Daniel Ceballos;
Whereas, in December 2015, the people of Venezuela elected the opposition 
        coalition (Mesa de Unidad Democratica) to a two-thirds majority in the 
        unicameral National Assembly, with 112 out of the 167 seats compared 
        with 55 seats for the government's Partido Socialista Unido de Venezuela 
        party;
Whereas, in late December 2015, the outgoing National Assembly increased the 
        number of seats in the Supreme Court of Venezuela and confirmed 
        magistrates politically aligned with the Maduro Administration and, 
        thereafter, the expanded Supreme Court has blocked 4 legislators, 
        including 3 opposition legislators, from taking office;
Whereas, during the first 6 months of the new legislature, the Supreme Court has 
        repeatedly issued politically motivated judgments to overturn 
        legislation passed by the democratically elected National Assembly and 
        block internal legislative procedures;
Whereas, in 2016, President Maduro has utilized emergency and legislative decree 
        powers to bypass the National Assembly, which, alongside the actions of 
        the Supreme Court, have severely undermined the principles of separation 
        of powers in Venezuela;
Whereas, in May 2016, Organization of American States Secretary General Luis 
        Almagro presented a 132-page report outlining grave alterations of the 
        democratic order in Venezuela and invoked Article 20 of the Inter-
        American Democratic Charter, which calls on the OAS Permanent Council 
        ``to undertake a collective assessment of the situation'';
Whereas, in June 2016, at a joint press conference with Prime Minister Justin 
        Trudeau of Canada and President Enrique Pena Nieto of Mexico, President 
        Barack Obama stated, ``Given the very serious situation in Venezuela and 
        the worsening plight of the Venezuelan people, together we're calling on 
        the government and opposition to engage in meaningful dialogue and urge 
        the Venezuelan government to respect the rule of law and the authority 
        of the National Assembly.''; and
Whereas, at the joint press conference with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and 
        President Pena Nieto, President Barack Obama continued, ``Political 
        prisoners should be released. The democratic process should be respected 
        and that includes legitimate efforts to pursue a recall referendum 
        consistent with Venezuelan law.'': Now, therefore, be it
    Resolved, That the Senate--
            (1) expresses its profound concern about widespread 
        shortages of essential medicines and basic food products faced 
        by the people of Venezuela, and urges President Maduro to 
        permit the delivery of humanitarian assistance;
            (2) calls on the Government of Venezuela to immediately 
        release all political prisoners, to provide protections for 
        freedom of expression and assembly, and to respect 
        internationally recognized human rights;
            (3) supports meaningful efforts towards a dialogue that 
        leads to respect for Venezuela's constitutional mechanisms and 
        resolves the country's political, economic, social, and 
        humanitarian crisis;
            (4) affirms its support for OAS Secretary General Almagro's 
        invocation of Article 20 of the Inter-American Democratic 
        Charter and urges the OAS Permanent Council, which represents 
        all of the organization's member states, to undertake a 
        collective assessment of the constitutional and democratic 
        order in Venezuela;
            (5) expresses its great concern over the Venezuelan 
        executive's lack of respect for the principle of separation of 
        powers, its overreliance on emergency decree powers, and its 
        subjugation of judicial independence;
            (6) calls on the Government of Venezuela and security 
        forces to respect the Constitution of Venezuela, including 
        constitutional provisions that provide Venezuelan citizens with 
        the right to peacefully pursue a fair and timely recall 
        referendum for their president this year if they so choose;
            (7) stresses the urgency of strengthening the rule of law 
        and increasing efforts to combat impunity and public corruption 
        in Venezuela, which has bankrupted a resource-rich country, 
        fuels rising social tensions, and contributes to elevated 
        levels of crime and violence; and
            (8) urges the President of the United States to provide 
        full support for OAS efforts in favor of constitutional and 
        democratic solutions to the political impasse, and to instruct 
        appropriate Federal agencies to hold officials of the 
        Government of Venezuela accountable for violations of United 
        States law and abuses of internationally recognized human 
        rights.
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