[Congressional Record Volume 166, Number 178 (Monday, October 19, 2020)]
[Senate]
[Pages S6332-S6333]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




 SENATE RESOLUTION 749--DENOUNCING THE MADURO REGIME'S EFFORTS TO HOLD 
FRAUDULENT LEGISLATIVE ELECTIONS, THE ABSENCE OF ACCEPTABLE CONDITIONS 
TO ENSURE FREE, FAIR, AND TRANSPARENT ELECTORAL PROCESSES IN VENEZUELA, 
            AND THE FURTHER EROSION OF VENEZUELAN DEMOCRACY

  Mr. RUBIO (for himself, Mr. Menendez, Mr. Cruz, Mr. Durbin, Mr. Scott 
of Florida, Mr. Cardin, and Mr. Kaine) submitted the following 
resolution; which was referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations:

                              S. Res. 749

       Whereas the regime of Nicolas Maduro is undertaking efforts 
     to hold fraudulent legislative elections for Venezuela's 
     National Assembly in December 2020 that will not comply with 
     international standards for free, fair, and transparent 
     electoral processes;
       Whereas the Maduro regime is seeking to use fraudulent 
     legislative elections to undermine Venezuela's sitting 
     democratically elected National Assembly;
       Whereas, as codified under section 112 of the VERDAD Act of 
     2019 (22 U.S.C. 9702), it is the policy of the United States 
     to recognize the democratically elected National Assembly of 
     Venezuela, elected in December 2015 and sworn in on January 
     2016, as the only legitimate national legislative body in 
     Venezuela;
       Whereas the United States Government and members of the 
     international community have rightly denounced the Maduro 
     regime's efforts to hold fraudulent legislative elections in 
     December 2020;
       Whereas, on October 13, 2020, members of the Lima Group--
     including Bolivia, Brazil, Canada, Chile, Colombia, Costa 
     Rica, Guatemala, Haiti, Honduras, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, and 
     Venezuela--issued a joint declaration on the Maduro regime's 
     efforts to hold legislative elections in December 2020 that 
     expressed ``firm rejection of the continuing of the 
     illegitimate regime of Nicolas Maduro in holding 
     parliamentary elections without the minimum democratic 
     guarantees and without the participation of all political 
     forces'';
       Whereas, on September 17, 2020, the International Contact 
     Group on Venezuela--whose members include Argentina, Costa 
     Rica, Ecuador, the European Union, France, Germany, Italy, 
     the Netherlands, Panama, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, the United 
     Kingdom, and Uruguay--issued a joint declaration on the 
     Maduro regime's efforts to hold legislative elections in 
     December 2020 that stated that ``conditions are not met, at 
     the moment, for a transparent, inclusive, free and fair 
     electoral process'';
       Whereas, on June 12, 2020, the Maduro regime's illegitimate 
     Supreme Court unilaterally appointed new members to 
     Venezuela's National Electoral Council without the approval 
     of the democratically elected National Assembly;
       Whereas, throughout 2020, the Maduro regime--
       (1) sought to coopt and undermine independent political 
     parties through a campaign of systematic persecution; and

[[Page S6333]]

       (2) used its discredited Supreme Court to strip independent 
     political parties of their leadership, including Voluntad 
     Popular, Primero Justicia, and Accion Democratica;
       Whereas the Maduro regime has a demonstrated track record 
     of holding fraudulent elections over the last four years;
       Whereas, on July 30, 2017, the Maduro regime manipulated 
     the results for Venezuela's Constituent Assembly by more than 
     1,000,000 votes, according to Smartmatic, the company that 
     supplied Venezuela's electronic voting machines;
       Whereas, in May 2018, the Maduro regime held fraudulent 
     presidential elections that were broadly criticized as 
     illegitimate, leading more 50 countries to recognize the end 
     of Nicolas Maduro's term in office and the inauguration of 
     National Assembly President Juan Guaido as Interim-President 
     of Venezuela on January 23, 2019;
       Whereas, according to the Venezuelan constitution, Juan 
     Guaido, as President of the National Assembly, serves as 
     Venezuela's Interim President in the absence of 
     democratically elected president of Venezuela;
       Whereas the conditions do not currently exist for the free, 
     fair, and transparent election of new members of the National 
     Assembly or the president of Venezuela;
       Whereas, as of September 7, 2020, the internationally 
     recognized nongovernmental organization Foro Penal confirmed 
     that, out of the 110 individuals recently released from 
     prison by the Maduro regime to serve out the remainder of 
     their sentences under house arrest, 53 were political 
     prisoners, and that currently 363 political prisoners remain 
     unjustly detained by the dictatorship without due process;
       Whereas, on September 16, 2020, the United Nations 
     Independent International Fact-Finding Mission on the 
     Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela found that Nicolas Maduro 
     and senior members of his regime ordered and carried out a 
     campaign of extrajudicial executions, forced disappearances, 
     torture, and arbitrary detentions that amounted to systemic 
     crimes against humanity;
       Whereas the Maduro regime's efforts to hold fraudulent 
     legislative elections, undermine the democratically elected 
     National Assembly and independent political parties, and 
     implement a campaign of state-sponsored violence and 
     repression further erodes democracy and the rule of law in 
     Venezuela; and
       Whereas, as codified under section 4 of the Venezuela 
     Defense of Human Rights and Civil Society Act (Public Law 
     113-278; 128 U.S.C. 3013), it is the policy of the United 
     States ``to support the people of Venezuela in their 
     aspiration to live under conditions of peace and 
     representative democracy as defined by the Inter-American 
     Democratic Charter of the Organization of American States'': 
     Now, therefore, be it
       Resolved, That the Senate--
       (1) denounces efforts by the Maduro regime to hold 
     fraudulent legislative elections in an effort to undermine 
     Venezuela's democratically elected National Assembly;
       (2) joins members of the international community, including 
     members of the Lima Group, in rightfully rejecting the 
     Maduro's regime efforts to carry out fraudulent legislative 
     elections;
       (3) urges that presidential and legislative elections in 
     Venezuela be conducted at the earliest possible date 
     according to international standards for free, fair, and 
     transparent electoral processes, including credible 
     international election observation;
       (4) calls on the Maduro regime to cease its campaign of 
     systematic persecution against Venezuela's independent 
     political parties and their leadership;
       (5) calls on the Maduro regime to immediately release all 
     political prisoners, facilitate access by humanitarian 
     organizations, and end its campaign of extrajudicial 
     executions, forced disappearances, torture, and arbitrary 
     detentions of political opponents, human rights defenders, 
     civil society activists, peaceful protesters, and citizens; 
     and
       (6) takes note of the finding of the United Nations 
     Independent International Fact-Finding Mission on the 
     Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela that the Maduro regime's 
     campaign of state-sponsored violence and repression against 
     the people of Venezuela amounted to crimes against humanity, 
     and calls for Nicolas Maduro and senior members of his regime 
     to be held accountable for their actions.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from South Dakota.

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