[Congressional Record Volume 167, Number 23 (Monday, February 8, 2021)]
[Senate]
[Pages S580-S581]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




    SENATE RESOLUTION 44--DENOUNCING THE MADURO REGIME'S 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, and Mr. Cardin) submitted the following resolution; which 
was referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations:

                               S. Res. 44

       Whereas, on December 6, 2020, the regime of Nicolas Maduro 
     held fraudulent legislative elections for Venezuela's 
     National Assembly that did not comply with international 
     standards for free, fair, and transparent electoral 
     processes;
       Whereas the Maduro regime sought to use fraudulent 
     legislative elections to install a new National Assembly on 
     January 5, 2021, in an effort to undermine Venezuela's 
     National Assembly, which was democratically elected in 2015;
       Whereas, pursuant to 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 and more than 50 countries--
     including Canada, the 27 member countries of the European 
     Union, and 21 members of the Organization of American States, 
     among others--have expressed concern about the lack of 
     legitimacy of the December 6, 2020, electoral process held in 
     Venezuela and the Maduro regime's failure to meet 
     international standards for a free, fair, and transparent 
     election;
       Whereas, on January 6, 2021, the European Union issued a 
     public statement on the Maduro regime's December 6, 2020, 
     legislative elections, stating that ``the elections failed to 
     comply with international standards'' and that it does not 
     recognize the electoral process as ``credible, inclusive or 
     transparent, nor . . . its outcome to be considered as 
     representative of the democratic will of the Venezuelan 
     people'';
       Whereas, on January 5, 2021, members of the Lima Group--
     including Brazil, Canada, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, 
     Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Haiti, Honduras, Paraguay, 
     Peru, and Venezuela--issued a joint declaration stating that 
     the Lima Group does not ``recognize the legitimacy or 
     legality of the National Assembly installed on January 5, 
     2021. This illegitimate National Assembly is the product of 
     the fraudulent elections of December 6, 2020, organized by 
     the illegitimate regime of Nicolas Maduro.'';
       Whereas, on December 8, 2020, the International Contact 
     Group--including Costa Rica, the Dominican Republic, Ecuador, 
     the European Union, France, Germany, Italy,

[[Page S581]]

     the Netherlands, Panama, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, the United 
     Kingdom and Uruguay--issued a public declaration stating that 
     the Maduro regime's December 6, 2020, elections did not meet 
     internationally accepted standards, ``[n]or did they meet 
     conditions required by Venezuelan laws,'' and that ``they 
     cannot recognise the results of this electoral process as 
     legitimate or representative of the will of the Venezuelan 
     people'';
       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 co-opt and undermine independent political 
     parties through a campaign of systematic persecution; and
       (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, in May 2018, the Maduro regime held fraudulent 
     presidential elections that were broadly criticized as 
     illegitimate, leading more than 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, 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, according to the Venezuelan constitution, Juan 
     Guaido, as President of the National Assembly, serves as 
     Venezuela's Interim President in the absence of a 
     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 Maduro regime 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 the Maduro regime's fraudulent legislative 
     elections on December 6, 2020, as an effort to undermine 
     Venezuela's democratically elected National Assembly;
       (2) does not recognize the legitimacy of the National 
     Assembly installed by the Maduro regime on January 6, 2021;
       (3) joins members of the international community, including 
     members of the Lima Group, the Organization of American 
     States, and the European Union, in rightfully rejecting the 
     Maduro's regime's fraudulent and illegitimate legislative 
     elections on December 6, 2020;
       (4) urges that presidential and legislative elections in 
     Venezuela be conducted at the earliest possible date that 
     conditions for international standards for free, fair, and 
     transparent electoral processes, including credible 
     international election observation, can be met;
       (5) calls on the Maduro regime to cease its campaign of 
     systematic persecution against Venezuela's independent 
     political parties and their leadership;
       (6) 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
       (7) 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.

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