[Congressional Record Volume 166, Number 4 (Wednesday, January 8, 2020)]
[Senate]
[Pages S77-S79]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




EXPRESSING SERIOUS CONCERN ABOUT WIDESPREAD IRREGULARITIES IN BOLIVIA'S 
OCTOBER 20, 2019, GENERAL ELECTIONS AND SUPPORTING THE CONVENING OF NEW 
           ELECTIONS IN BOLIVIA AT THE EARLIEST POSSIBLE DATE

  Mrs. FISCHER. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate 
proceed to the consideration of Calendar No. 341, S. Res. 447.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will report the resolution by title.
  The senior assistant legislative clerk read as follows:

       A resolution (S. Res. 447) expressing serious concern about 
     widespread irregularities in Bolivia's October 20, 2019, 
     general elections and supporting the convening of new 
     elections in Bolivia at the earliest possible date.

  There being no objection, the Senate proceeded to consider the 
resolution, which had been reported from the Committee on Foreign 
Relations, with an

[[Page S78]]

amendment to strike all after the resolving clause and insert the part 
printed in italic, and with an amendment to the preamble to strike the 
preamble and insert the part printed in italic, as follows:

                              S. Res. 447

       Whereas Evo Morales was elected as the first indigenous 
     president of Bolivia in 2005;
       Whereas, in 2009, Bolivians approved by a vote of more than 
     60 percent in a nationwide referendum a new constitution that 
     established a limit of two 5-year presidential terms and 
     declared the country a plurinational state in order to better 
     reflect Bolivia's dozens of ethnic groups;
       Whereas, in 2009 and 2014, President Morales won re-
     election to a second and third term in office with more than 
     60 percent of the vote;
       Whereas, in 2016, 51.3 percent of Bolivian voters rejected 
     a national referendum on the proposal by the Administration 
     of President Morales to lift presidential term limits;
       Whereas, in 2017, despite the results of the 2016 national 
     referendum, President Morales' political allies in the 
     Bolivian Constitutional Tribunal removed presidential term 
     limits;
       Whereas, on October 20, 2019, amid existing concerns over 
     the politicization of Bolivia's electoral commission, 
     Bolivian voters went to the polls for general elections to 
     choose a new president, members of the Senate, and members of 
     the Chamber of Deputies;
       Whereas, at the invitation of Morales Administration, the 
     Organization of American States (OAS) General Secretariat 
     sent an Electoral Observation Mission to Bolivia that was 
     comprised of 92 experts and observers from 24 different 
     nationalities deployed in the country's nine departments and 
     in three countries in which Bolivian expatriates could cast 
     their votes abroad;
       Whereas, on October 20, 2019, Bolivian electoral 
     authorities stopped reporting the preliminary vote count for 
     a period of 20 hours, subsequently announced preliminary 
     results that negated the need for a second-round election, 
     and Evo Morales proclaimed himself the winner of the 
     presidential election;
       Whereas, on October 21, 2019, the OAS Electoral Observation 
     Mission in Bolivia expressed ``deep concern and surprise at 
     the drastic and hard-to-explain change in the trend of the 
     preliminary results revealed after the closing of the 
     polls'';
       Whereas, in the aftermath of the October 20, 2019, general 
     elections, violent protests occurred throughout Bolivia in 
     response to electoral irregularities and the findings of the 
     OAS Electoral Observation Mission;
       Whereas, on October 30, 2019, the Morales Administration 
     and the OAS General Secretariat signed an agreement to have 
     the OAS conduct an audit of the integrity of the October 20, 
     2019, general elections;
       Whereas, on November 10, 2019, an OAS technical mission 
     issued a report on its audit of the integrity of the October 
     20, 2019, general elections, which included findings that--
       (1) the preliminary and final election results were 
     transmitted via a flawed computer transmission system that 
     was accessed by unauthorized outside computer servers;
       (2) there was a deficient chain of custody for and 
     significant irregularities in the electoral tally sheets and 
     other electoral records; and
       (3) the audit team could not validate the results of the 
     election and therefore recommended a new electoral process;
       Whereas, on November 10, 2019, President Morales 
     acknowledged the results of the OAS technical mission, 
     announced that he would call new elections, and stated that, 
     ``new national elections will allow the Bolivian people to 
     democratically choose new authorities with their vote'';
       Whereas, in the face of widespread public protests and a 
     deteriorating security environment, President Morales 
     departed Bolivia on November 12, 2019, and was granted asylum 
     by the Government of Mexico;
       Whereas, on November 12, 2019, the Bolivian Constitutional 
     Tribunal recognized an interim president of Bolivia;
       Whereas the transitional government in Bolivia signed a law 
     on November 24, 2019, stating that new elections must be held 
     within 120 days after the election of a new Electoral 
     Tribunal by the National Assembly;
       Whereas the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights 
     (IACHR) stated that protests occurring in Bolivia since the 
     October 20, 2019, general election have left 23 people dead 
     and more than 700 people injured; and
       Whereas the IACHR has urged the Bolivian state ``to adopt 
     all measures necessary to prevent impunity, to protect the 
     right to peaceful assembly, and to take urgent action to 
     preserve Bolivians' lives and integrity, as well as ensuring 
     that journalists and autonomous institutions to protect and 
     defend human rights can do their job'': Now, therefore, be it
     Resolved, That the Senate--
       (1) expresses concern about the numerous irregularities 
     that occurred during the October 20, 2019, general elections 
     in Bolivia;
       (2) commends the efforts of the OAS Electoral Observation 
     Mission in Bolivia and supports the findings of the OAS 
     electoral audit mission, which documented numerous 
     irregularities during the October 2019 general elections in 
     Bolivia;
       (3) deplores the acts of violence that have occurred in 
     Bolivia in the aftermath of the October 20, 2019, general 
     elections and urges all Bolivians to repudiate violence and 
     to peacefully exercise their rights of freedom of expression 
     and assembly;
       (4) urges Bolivia's transitional government to work 
     expeditiously to establish the conditions for an inclusive, 
     credible, transparent, and democratic elections as soon as 
     possible in accordance with their laws and constitution;
       (5) encourages the Bolivian state to protect the human 
     rights of all persons, including indigenous groups, 
     regardless of political affiliation, ethnicity, religion, or 
     sex;
       (6) encourages the Department of State and the U.S. Mission 
     to the Organization of American States to provide all 
     appropriate support to facilitate the convening of free, 
     fair, and transparent democratic elections in Bolivia as soon 
     as possible in accordance with their laws and constitution;
       (7) encourages the Organization of American States to take 
     all necessary steps, in accordance with the principles of the 
     Inter-American Democratic Charter, to ensure respect for the 
     will of Bolivian voters and the integrity of the new 
     democratic elections in Bolivia as soon as possible in 
     accordance with their laws and constitution; and
       (8) supports the call by the Permanent Council of the 
     Organization of American States for Bolivian authorities to 
     ensure full respect and protection of human rights and 
     accountability for any violation thereof.

  Mrs. FISCHER. I ask unanimous consent that the committee-reported 
substitute amendment to the resolution be agreed to; that the 
resolution, as amended, be agreed to; that the committee-reported 
amendment to the preamble be agreed to; that the preamble, as amended, 
be agreed to; and that the motions to reconsider be considered made and 
laid upon the table.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
  The committee-reported amendment in the nature of a substitute was 
agreed to.
  The resolution (S. Res. 447), as amended, was agreed to.
  The committee-reported amendment to the preamble was agreed to.
  The preamble, as amended, was agreed to.
  The resolution, as amended, with its preamble, as amended, reads as 
follows:

                              S. Res. 447

       Whereas Evo Morales was elected as the first indigenous 
     president of Bolivia in 2005;
       Whereas, in 2009, Bolivians approved by a vote of more than 
     60 percent in a nationwide referendum a new constitution that 
     established a limit of two 5-year presidential terms and 
     declared the country a plurinational state in order to better 
     reflect Bolivia's dozens of ethnic groups;
       Whereas, in 2009 and 2014, President Morales won re-
     election to a second and third term in office with more than 
     60 percent of the vote;
       Whereas, in 2016, 51.3 percent of Bolivian voters rejected 
     a national referendum on the proposal by the Administration 
     of President Morales to lift presidential term limits;
       Whereas, in 2017, despite the results of the 2016 national 
     referendum, President Morales' political allies in the 
     Bolivian Constitutional Tribunal removed presidential term 
     limits;
       Whereas, on October 20, 2019, amid existing concerns over 
     the politicization of Bolivia's electoral commission, 
     Bolivian voters went to the polls for general elections to 
     choose a new president, members of the Senate, and members of 
     the Chamber of Deputies;
       Whereas, at the invitation of Morales Administration, the 
     Organization of American States (OAS) General Secretariat 
     sent an Electoral Observation Mission to Bolivia that was 
     comprised of 92 experts and observers from 24 different 
     nationalities deployed in the country's nine departments and 
     in three countries in which Bolivian expatriates could cast 
     their votes abroad;
       Whereas, on October 20, 2019, Bolivian electoral 
     authorities stopped reporting the preliminary vote count for 
     a period of 20 hours, subsequently announced preliminary 
     results that negated the need for a second-round election, 
     and Evo Morales proclaimed himself the winner of the 
     presidential election;
       Whereas, on October 21, 2019, the OAS Electoral Observation 
     Mission in Bolivia expressed ``deep concern and surprise at 
     the drastic and hard-to-explain change in the trend of the 
     preliminary results revealed after the closing of the 
     polls'';
       Whereas, in the aftermath of the October 20, 2019, general 
     elections, violent protests occurred throughout Bolivia in 
     response to electoral irregularities and the findings of the 
     OAS Electoral Observation Mission;
       Whereas, on October 30, 2019, the Morales Administration 
     and the OAS General Secretariat signed an agreement to have 
     the OAS conduct an audit of the integrity of the October 20, 
     2019, general elections;
       Whereas, on November 10, 2019, an OAS technical mission 
     issued a report on its audit of the integrity of the October 
     20, 2019, general elections, which included findings that--
       (1) the preliminary and final election results were 
     transmitted via a flawed computer transmission system that 
     was accessed by unauthorized outside computer servers;
       (2) there was a deficient chain of custody for and 
     significant irregularities in the electoral tally sheets and 
     other electoral records; and
       (3) the audit team could not validate the results of the 
     election and therefore recommended a new electoral process;
       Whereas, on November 10, 2019, President Morales 
     acknowledged the results of the OAS technical mission, 
     announced that he would

[[Page S79]]

     call new elections, and stated that, ``new national elections 
     will allow the Bolivian people to democratically choose new 
     authorities with their vote'';
       Whereas, in the face of widespread public protests and a 
     deteriorating security environment, President Morales 
     departed Bolivia on November 12, 2019, and was granted asylum 
     by the Government of Mexico;
       Whereas, on November 12, 2019, the Bolivian Constitutional 
     Tribunal recognized an interim president of Bolivia;
       Whereas the transitional government in Bolivia signed a law 
     on November 24, 2019, stating that new elections must be held 
     within 120 days after the election of a new Electoral 
     Tribunal by the National Assembly;
       Whereas the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights 
     (IACHR) stated that protests occurring in Bolivia since the 
     October 20, 2019, general election have left 23 people dead 
     and more than 700 people injured; and
       Whereas the IACHR has urged the Bolivian state ``to adopt 
     all measures necessary to prevent impunity, to protect the 
     right to peaceful assembly, and to take urgent action to 
     preserve Bolivians' lives and integrity, as well as ensuring 
     that journalists and autonomous institutions to protect and 
     defend human rights can do their job'': Now, therefore, be it
       Resolved, That the Senate--
       (1) expresses concern about the numerous irregularities 
     that occurred during the October 20, 2019, general elections 
     in Bolivia;
       (2) commends the efforts of the OAS Electoral Observation 
     Mission in Bolivia and supports the findings of the OAS 
     electoral audit mission, which documented numerous 
     irregularities during the October 2019 general elections in 
     Bolivia;
       (3) deplores the acts of violence that have occurred in 
     Bolivia in the aftermath of the October 20, 2019, general 
     elections and urges all Bolivians to repudiate violence and 
     to peacefully exercise their rights of freedom of expression 
     and assembly;
       (4) urges Bolivia's transitional government to work 
     expeditiously to establish the conditions for an inclusive, 
     credible, transparent, and democratic elections as soon as 
     possible in accordance with their laws and constitution;
       (5) encourages the Bolivian state to protect the human 
     rights of all persons, including indigenous groups, 
     regardless of political affiliation, ethnicity, religion, or 
     sex;
       (6) encourages the Department of State and the U.S. Mission 
     to the Organization of American States to provide all 
     appropriate support to facilitate the convening of free, 
     fair, and transparent democratic elections in Bolivia as soon 
     as possible in accordance with their laws and constitution;
       (7) encourages the Organization of American States to take 
     all necessary steps, in accordance with the principles of the 
     Inter-American Democratic Charter, to ensure respect for the 
     will of Bolivian voters and the integrity of the new 
     democratic elections in Bolivia as soon as possible in 
     accordance with their laws and constitution; and
       (8) supports the call by the Permanent Council of the 
     Organization of American States for Bolivian authorities to 
     ensure full respect and protection of human rights and 
     accountability for any violation thereof.

                          ____________________