[Congressional Record Volume 163, Number 17 (Wednesday, February 1, 2017)]
[Senate]
[Pages S600-S601]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




  SENATE RESOLUTION 35--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, INCLUDING FREE AND FAIR 
                               ELECTIONS

  Mr. CARDIN (for himself, Mr. Rubio, Mr. Durbin, Mr. Cotton, Mr. 
Menendez, Mr. Blunt, Mr. Nelson, Mr. Gardner, Mr. Kaine, and Mr. 
Perdue) submitted the following resolution; which was referred to the 
Committee on Foreign Relations:

                               S. Res. 35

       Whereas the deterioration of basic governance and the 
     economic crisis in Venezuela have led to an unprecedented 
     humanitarian situation in which 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 civil society 
     organizations to bring humanitarian aid into the country;
       Whereas the International Monetary Fund assesses that, in 
     Venezuela, gross domestic product will contract 10 percent 
     and inflation will exceed 700 percent in 2016, accelerating 
     to over 1,600 percent in 2017, the worst anticipated growth 
     and inflation performance in the world;
       Whereas Venezuela's political, economic, and humanitarian 
     crisis is fueling social tensions that are resulting in 
     growing incidents of public unrest, looting, violence among 
     citizens, and an exodus of Venezuelans abroad;
       Whereas 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;
       Whereas, on August 1, 2016, General Nestor Reverol, 
     Venezuela's current Minister of Interior and former National 
     Guard commander, was indicted in the United States for 
     participating in an international cocaine trafficking 
     conspiracy;
       Whereas, on November 18, 2016, Franqui Francisco Flores de 
     Freitas and Efrain Antonio Campo Flores, nephews of President 
     Maduro and Venezuelan First Lady Cilia Flores, were convicted 
     by a United States Federal jury on charges of conspiring to 
     import cocaine into the United States;
       Whereas international and domestic human rights groups, 
     such as Venezuelan organization Foro Penal, recognize more 
     than 100 political prisoners in Venezuela, including 
     opposition leader and former Chacao mayor Leopoldo Lopez, 
     Judge Maria Lourdes Afiuni, Caracas Mayor Antonio Ledezma, 
     and former San Cristobal mayor Daniel Ceballos;
       Whereas the 1999 Constitution of the Bolivarian Republic of 
     Venezuela serves as the foundation for political processes in 
     Venezuela;
       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;
       Whereas, in late December 2015, the outgoing National 
     Assembly confirmed to the Supreme Court of Venezuela 
     magistrates politically aligned with the Maduro 
     Administration and, thereafter, the Supreme Court blocked 
     four legislators, including 3 opposition legislators, from 
     taking office;
       Whereas, during the first year of the new legislature, the 
     Supreme Court has repeatedly overturned legislation passed by 
     the democratically elected National Assembly;
       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 late October 2016, Venezuela's state courts and 
     National Electoral Council, which are comprised of political 
     allies of President Maduro, halted efforts to hold a 
     referendum pursuant to provisions of the Venezuelan 
     constitution to recall President Maduro, thereby denying the 
     Venezuelan people the ability to pursue a democratic solution 
     to Venezuela's crisis; and
       Whereas, in November 2016, sectors of the opposition and 
     the Government of Venezuela

[[Page S601]]

     initiated a dialogue, facilitated by the Vatican, in an 
     effort to pursue a negotiated solution to the country's 
     political, economic, social, and humanitarian crisis: 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 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) calls on the Government of Venezuela to ensure the 
     neutrality and professionalism of all security forces and to 
     respect the Venezuelan people's rights to freedom of 
     expression and assembly;
       (6) calls on the Government of Venezuela to halt its 
     efforts to undermine the principle of separation of powers, 
     its circumvention of the democratically elected legislature, 
     and its subjugation of judicial independence;
       (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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