A resolution 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.

III Calendar No. 27 117TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION S. RES. 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. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES FEBRUARY 8, 2021 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 MARCH 24, 2021 Reported by Mr. MENENDEZ, without amendment RESOLUTION Denouncing the Maduro regime’s fraudulent legislative elec- tions, the absence of acceptable conditions to ensure free, fair, and transparent electoral processes in Venezuela, and the further erosion of Venezuelan democracy. Whereas, on December 6, 2020, the regime of Nicola´s Maduro held fraudulent legislative elections for Ven- ezuela’s National Assembly that did not comply with international standards for free, fair, and transparent electoral processes; VerDate Sep 11 2014 18:39 Mar 25, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6300 E:\BILLS\SR44.RS SR44 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 2 •SRES 44 RS Whereas the Maduro regime sought to use fraudulent legisla- tive elections to install a new National Assembly on Jan- uary 5, 2021, in an effort to undermine Venezuela’s Na- tional 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 na- tional legislative body in Venezuela; Whereas the United States and more than 50 countries—in- cluding Canada, the 27 member countries of the Euro- pean 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 re- gime’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 con- sidered 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 declara- tion stating that the Lima Group does not ‘‘recognize the VerDate Sep 11 2014 18:39 Mar 25, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6300 E:\BILLS\SR44.RS SR44 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 3 •SRES 44 RS 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 Nicola´s Maduro.’’; Whereas, on December 8, 2020, the International Contact Group—including Costa Rica, the Dominican Republic, Ecuador, the European Union, France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Panama, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, the United Kingdom and Uruguay—issued a public declara- tion 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 ap- proval of the democratically elected National Assembly; Whereas, throughout 2020, the Maduro regime— (1) sought to co-opt and undermine independent po- litical parties through a campaign of systematic persecu- tion; and (2) used its discredited Supreme Court to strip inde- pendent political parties of their leadership, including Voluntad Popular, Primero Justicia, and Accio´n Democra´tica; Whereas the Maduro regime has a demonstrated track record of holding fraudulent elections over the last four years; VerDate Sep 11 2014 18:39 Mar 25, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6300 E:\BILLS\SR44.RS SR44 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 4 •SRES 44 RS Whereas, in May 2018, the Maduro regime held fraudulent presidential elections that were broadly criticized as ille- gitimate, leading more than 50 countries to recognize the end of Nicola´s Maduro’s term in office and the inaugura- tion of National Assembly President Juan Guaido´ as In- terim-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 com- pany that supplied Venezuela’s electronic voting ma- chines; 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 demo- cratically elected president of Venezuela; Whereas the conditions do not currently exist for the free, fair, and transparent election of new members of the Na- tional Assembly or the president of Venezuela; Whereas, as of September 7, 2020, the internationally recog- nized nongovernmental organization Foro Penal con- firmed that, out of the 110 individuals recently released from prison by the Maduro regime to serve out the re- mainder of their sentences under house arrest, 53 were political prisoners, and that currently 363 political pris- oners remain unjustly detained by the Maduro regime without due process; Whereas, on September 16, 2020, the United Nations Inde- pendent International Fact-Finding Mission on the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela found that Nicola´s Maduro and senior members of his regime ordered and carried out a campaign of extrajudicial executions, forced VerDate Sep 11 2014 18:39 Mar 25, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6300 E:\BILLS\SR44.RS SR44 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 5 •SRES 44 RS disappearances, torture, and arbitrary detentions that amounted to systemic crimes against humanity; Whereas the Maduro regime’s efforts to hold fraudulent legis- lative elections, undermine the democratically elected Na- tional Assembly and independent political parties, and implement a campaign of state-sponsored violence and re- pression further erodes democracy and the rule of law in Venezuela; and Whereas, as codified under section 4 of the Venezuela De- fense 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 rep- resentative democracy as defined by the Inter-American Democratic Charter of the Organization of American States’’: Now, therefore, be it Resolved, That the Senate— 1 (1) denounces the Maduro regime’s fraudulent 2 legislative elections on December 6, 2020, as an ef- 3 fort to undermine Venezuela’s democratically elected 4 National Assembly; 5 (2) does not recognize the legitimacy of the Na- 6 tional Assembly installed by the Maduro regime on 7 January 6, 2021; 8 (3) joins members of the international commu- 9 nity, including members of the Lima Group, the Or- 10 ganization of American States, and the European 11 Union, in rightfully rejecting the Maduro’s regime’s 12 VerDate Sep 11 2014 18:39 Mar 25, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\SR44.RS SR44 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 6 •SRES 44 RS fraudulent and illegitimate legislative elections on 1 December 6, 2020; 2 (4) urges that presidential and legislative elec- 3 tions in Venezuela be conducted at the earliest pos- 4 sible date that conditions for international standards 5 for free, fair, and transparent electoral processes, in- 6 cluding credible international election observation, 7 can be met; 8 (5) calls on the Maduro regime to cease its 9 campaign of systematic persecution against Ven- 10 ezuela’s independent political parties and their lead- 11 ership; 12 (6) calls on the Maduro regime to immediately 13 release all political prisoners, facilitate access by hu- 14 manitarian organizations, and end its campaign of 15 extrajudicial executions, forced disappearances, tor- 16 ture, and arbitrary detentions of political opponents, 17 human rights defenders, civil society activists, peace- 18 ful protesters, and citizens; and 19 (7) takes note of the finding of the United Na- 20 tions Independent International Fact-Finding Mis- 21 sion on the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela that 22 the Maduro regime’s campaign of state-sponsored vi- 23 olence and repression against the people of Ven- 24 ezuela amounted to crimes against humanity, and 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 18:39 Mar 25, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\SR44.RS SR44 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 7 •SRES 44 RS calls for Nicola´s Maduro and senior members of his 1 regime to be held accountable for their actions. 2 VerDate Sep 11 2014 18:39 Mar 25, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\SR44.RS SR44 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS Calendar No. 27 117TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION S. RES. 44 RESOLUTION Denouncing the Maduro regime’s fraudulent legisla- tive elections, the absence of acceptable condi- tions to ensure free, fair, and transparent elec- toral processes in Venezuela, and the further ero- sion of Venezuelan democracy. MARCH 24, 2021 Reported without amendment VerDate Sep 11 2014 18:39 Mar 25, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6651 Sfmt 6651 E:\BILLS\SR44.RS SR44 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS