[Congressional Record Volume 162, Number 114 (Thursday, July 14, 2016)]
[Senate]
[Pages S5172-S5173]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




 SENATE RESOLUTION 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

  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:

                              S. Res. 537

       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 four 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

[[Page S5173]]

       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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