[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. Res. 829 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

<DOC>






119th CONGRESS
  2d Session
S. RES. 829

   Reaffirming the policy of the United States to support a peaceful 
  democratic transition in Venezuela through free and fair elections.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                             August 4, 2026

Mr. Cruz (for himself, Mrs. Shaheen, Mr. Scott of Florida, Mr. Durbin, 
     Mr. Kaine, Mr. Schiff, and Ms. Rosen) submitted the following 
  resolution; which was referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations

_______________________________________________________________________

                               RESOLUTION


 
   Reaffirming the policy of the United States to support a peaceful 
  democratic transition in Venezuela through free and fair elections.

Whereas the Venezuelan presidential election was held on July 28, 2024, and on 
        August 1, 2024, the Department of State concluded that overwhelming--and 
        meticulously gathered--evidence demonstrated that Nicolas Maduro did not 
        win that election and that Edmundo Gonzalez Urrutia received the most 
        votes in that election;
Whereas Venezuela's Supreme Tribunal of Justice upheld the June 30, 2023, 
        decision of the Office of the Comptroller General of the Republic 
        imposing a 15-year ban on Maria Corina Machado and preventing her from 
        appearing on the presidential ballot and holding public office after she 
        won the Venezuelan opposition's independently administered presidential 
        primary on October 22, 2023, with more than 90 percent of the vote;
Whereas the Venezuelan regime also blocked Corina Yoris from registering as a 
        candidate for the election, and the Unitary Platform opposition 
        coalition ultimately chose Edmundo Gonzalez Urrutia as a provisional 
        candidate;
Whereas, following the capture of Nicolas Maduro during Operation Absolute 
        Resolve on January 3, 2026, Delcy Rodriguez assumed the interim 
        presidency of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela;
Whereas, on January 28, 2026, Secretary of State Marco Rubio testified before 
        the Committee on Foreign Relations of the Senate that the objective of 
        the Trump Administration's policy is to achieve a friendly, stable, 
        prosperous, and democratic Venezuela in which ``all elements of society 
        are represented in free and fair elections'';
Whereas, on July 16, 2026, the Department of State reaffirmed that the United 
        States will continue to support Venezuelan-led efforts that produce 
        tangible progress toward a peaceful and democratic electoral transition;
Whereas Delcy Rodriguez does not have an electoral mandate from the people of 
        Venezuela, has not taken meaningful steps toward convening free and fair 
        presidential elections, and is broadly assessed as unable to win any 
        such free and fair election;
Whereas the detention, assault, enforced disappearance, death, or other serious 
        harm suffered by individuals seeking public office has long existed in 
        Venezuela, and is fundamentally incompatible with the conduct of free 
        and fair democratic elections; and
Whereas the structures that have sustained persecution in Venezuela for years 
        have not yet been dismantled: Now, therefore, be it
    Resolved, That the Senate--
            (1) reaffirms the policy of the United States to support a 
        peaceful democratic transition in Venezuela through free and 
        fair elections;
            (2) urges that the interim authorities of the Bolivarian 
        Republic of Venezuela take immediate steps to restore 
        democratic governance through free, fair, and transparent 
        presidential elections;
            (3) calls for the unconditional and immediate release of 
        all political prisoners in the Bolivarian Republic of 
        Venezuela, including those detained in relation to the July 
        2024 election; and
            (4) declares that any arbitrary detention, sentence, 
        assault, enforced disappearance, death, or other serious harm 
        suffered by any individual seeking public office, including 
        Maria Corina Machado, would--
                    (A) gravely undermine the freedom or fairness of 
                future elections;
                    (B) be presumed as having been done with the 
                knowledge, acquiescence, or approval of senior 
                officials of the interim authorities of the Bolivarian 
                Republic of Venezuela; and
                    (C) necessitate actions by the United States to 
                hold accountable any person determined to be 
                responsible for or complicit in such actions.
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