[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 156 (2010), Part 12]
[Senate]
[Page 16511]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




SENATE RESOLUTION 645--EXPRESSING THE SENSE OF THE SENATE REGARDING THE 
 PARLIAMENTARY ELECTIONS TO BE HELD IN VENEZUELA ON SEPTEMBER 26, 2010

  Mr. ENSIGN submitted the following resolution; which was referred to 
the Committee on Foreign Relations:

                              S. Res. 645

       Whereas both the United States and Venezuela were among the 
     21 original members that founded the Organization of American 
     States on May 5, 1948;
       Whereas both the United States and Venezuela joined the 
     other 34 Organization of American States member nations and 
     approved and accepted the Inter-American Democratic Charter 
     on September 11, 2001;
       Whereas Article 1 of the Organization of American States 
     Inter-American Democratic Charter states the peoples of the 
     Americas have a right to democracy and their governments have 
     an obligation to promote and defend it;
       Whereas Article 4 of the Organization of American States 
     Inter-American Democratic Charter states transparency in 
     government activities, probity, responsible public 
     administration on the part of governments, respect for social 
     rights, and freedom of expression and of the press are 
     essential components of the exercise of democracy;
       Whereas Article 57 of the Constitution of the Bolivarian 
     Republic of Venezuela guarantees the right of all citizens to 
     freely express their thoughts and opinions;
       Whereas Article 106 of the Charter for the Organization of 
     American States establishes ``an Inter-American Commission on 
     Human Rights, whose principal function shall be to promote 
     the observance and protection of human rights and to serve as 
     a consultative organ of the Organization in these matters'';
       Whereas the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights 
     report entitled Democracy and Human Rights in Venezuela, 
     published February 24, 2010, found that the government of 
     President Hugo Chavez employs the punitive power of the state 
     to intimidate or punish people inside Venezuela on account of 
     their political opinions;
       Whereas the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights 
     report entitled Democracy and Human Rights in Venezuela found 
     that conditions do not exist for human rights defenders and 
     journalists to be able to freely carry out their work in 
     Venezuela;
       Whereas the Department of State declared on November 29, 
     2009, that the United States ``commends the Honduran people 
     for peacefully exercising their democratic right to select 
     their leaders in an electoral process that began over a year 
     ago'';
       Whereas, prior to the election in Honduras, President 
     Chavez announced on Venezuelan state television that he put 
     the military of Venezuela on alert in response to the removal 
     by the people of Honduras of Chavez's ally Manuel Zelaya;
       Whereas the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights 
     report entitled Democracy and Human Rights in Venezuela 
     concluded that constraints on freedom of expression and the 
     right to protest peaceably and the existence of a climate 
     hostile to the free exercise of dissenting political 
     participation contribute to the weakening of the rule of law 
     and democracy in Venezuela;
       Whereas, on June 14, 2010, the Department of State 
     described an arrest order issued by the government of 
     President Chavez for the owner of Venezuela's last remaining 
     independent television station as ``the latest example of the 
     government of Venezuela's continuing assault on the freedom 
     of the press'' and urged Venezuela to ``honor its commitment 
     under the Inter-American Democratic Charter to uphold the 
     principle that respect for human rights, including freedom of 
     the press, is essential to representative democracies''; and
       Whereas the people of Venezuela will hold parliamentary 
     elections on September 26, 2010: Now, therefore, be it
       Resolved, That it is the sense of the Senate that--
       (1) the people and Government of the United States support 
     the right of the people of Venezuela to free and fair 
     elections as guaranteed by the Organization of American 
     States Democratic Charter;
       (2) the people and Government of the United States support 
     the right of the people of Venezuela to the freedom of 
     speech, the freedom of assembly, and their right to freely 
     express their political views as guaranteed by the 
     Organization of American States Democratic Charter; and
       (3) the people and Government of the United States 
     summarily reject any effort by President Chavez to invoke the 
     punitive power of the state to intimidate or punish the 
     people of Venezuelan who exercise their right to express 
     their political opinions, their right to assemble, and their 
     right to vote in a free and fair elections.

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