A resolution supporting democratic principles and standards in Bolivia and throughout Latin America.

III 116TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION S. RES. 35 Supporting democratic principles and standards in Bolivia and throughout Latin America. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES JANUARY 31, 2019 Mr. MENENDEZ (for himself, Mr. DURBIN, Mr. CRUZ, and Mr. COONS) sub- mitted the following resolution; which was referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations APRIL 4, 2019 Reported by Mr. RISCH, without amendment and with an amendment to the preamble APRIL 10, 2019 Considered and agreed to with an amended preamble RESOLUTION Supporting democratic principles and standards in Bolivia and throughout Latin America. Whereas the nation of Bolivia proclaimed independence from Spain on August 6, 1825, with Simo´n Bolı´var as its president; Whereas Bolivia endured more than a century of fragile gov- ernance and instability, with more than 150 changes of leadership since it gained independence; Whereas Bolivia experienced a succession of military coups that resulted in the irregular transfer of power between VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:00 Apr 11, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6300 E:\BILLS\SR35.ATS SR35 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 2 SRES 35 ATS presidents and military juntas during the period of 1964 to 1982; Whereas a transition to civilian democracy occurred in 1982, after the ruling military junta handed over power to a ci- vilian government, which managed to maintain control despite major economic upheavals and painful market re- forms; Whereas elected President Gonzalo Sanchez de Lozada and his successor Carlos Mesa both resigned in the face of de- stabilizing protests in 2003 and 2005, respectively; Whereas, in 2005, Evo Morales won his first term as presi- dent, becoming Bolivia’s first indigenous citizen elected to the office; Whereas Bolivia’s historically marginalized indigenous peo- ples represent approximately 41 percent of the country’s population, according to the 2012 Bolivian census; Whereas, in 2006, the people of Bolivia elected a constituent assembly to write a new constitution recognizing greater political and economic rights for the country’s indigenous population, while key opposition parties boycotted the constituent assembly election; Whereas, in 2008, a recall referendum on President Morales was rejected by 67 percent of voters in Bolivia; Whereas, in 2008, amidst growing protests in the country and rising tensions between Bolivia and the United States, President Morales expelled the United States am- bassador to Bolivia; Whereas, in 2009, Bolivians approved, by a vote of more than 60 percent in a nationwide referendum, a new constitu- tion that included a limit of two five-year presidential terms; VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:00 Apr 11, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6300 E:\BILLS\SR35.ATS SR35 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 3 SRES 35 ATS Whereas, in 2009, President Morales won re-election to a sec- ond term with more than 60 percent of the vote; Whereas, in 2013, President Morales’ loyalists in Bolivia’s Legislative Assembly approved legislation allowing him to run for a third term—a law that President Morales’ po- litical allies in the Bolivian Constitutional Tribunal af- firmed, ruling that the two-term limit in the country’s new constitution did not apply because President Mo- rales’ first term was under the old constitution; Whereas, in 2013, President Morales expelled the United States Agency for International Development for trying to ‘‘conspire against Bolivia’’; Whereas, in 2014, President Morales won his third term as president, with 60 percent of the vote; Whereas, in 2016, the Government of Bolivia called a na- tional referendum to modify the constitution in order to allow for an additional term for Morales; Whereas, that same year, more than half of voters in Bolivia rejected the proposed lifting of presidential term limits that would have allowed President Morales to run for a fourth term and serve at least 19 years in office; Whereas, after the referendum, the Morales Administration increased its troubling rhetoric against opposition media and advanced a narrative suggesting a plot to prevent President Morales from staying in power; Whereas, in 2017, President Morales’ loyalists on the Boliv- ian Constitutional Tribunal lifted constitutional term lim- its arguing that they violated the candidates’ human rights, citing the American Convention of Human Rights, adopted at San Jose November 22, 1969, the main VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:50 Apr 11, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6300 E:\BILLS\SR35.ATS SR35 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 4 SRES 35 ATS human rights treaty in the Americas, as the legal founda- tion for its decision; Whereas the Convention states that political rights can only be limited under very specific circumstances, a provision which, when drafted in 1969, was intended to prevent abusive governments from arbitrarily barring opposition candidates and not to impede constitutional re-election limits designed to reduce corruption and abuse of power given Latin America’s long history of violent and pro- longed dictatorship; Whereas the Bolivian Constitutional Tribunal’s ruling ren- dered Bolivia one of a very small number of countries in the Western Hemisphere that does not place limits on presidential re-election; Whereas the Secretary General of the Organization of Amer- ican States said the cited clause ‘‘does not mean the right to perpetual power . . . Besides, presidential re-election was rejected by popular will in a referendum in 2016.’’; Whereas, in March 2018, a report commissioned by the Orga- nization of American States specifically related to this issue stated that— (1) ‘‘There is no specific and distinct human right to re-election.’’; (2) ‘‘Term limits . . . are a reasonable limit to the right to be elected because they prevent an unlimited ex- ercise of power in the hands of the President.’’; and (3) ‘‘The limits on a president’s re-election do not therefore unduly restrict his/her human and political rights.’’; and Whereas the Morales era has seen many social and economic gains, but also a weakening and undermining of key VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:50 Apr 11, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6300 E:\BILLS\SR35.ATS SR35 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 5 SRES 35 ATS democratic institutions in order to favor the ruling party: Now, therefore, be it Resolved, That the Senate— 1 (1) supports the important transitions to de- 2 mocracy and the regular peaceful transfers of power 3 through elections that have taken place in the ma- 4 jority of Latin American and Caribbean countries in 5 recent decades; 6 (2) recognizes the historic significance of Boliv- 7 ia’s 2005 election; 8 (3) expresses concern for efforts to circumvent 9 presidential term limits in the Bolivian constitution; 10 (4) supports presidential term limits prevalent 11 in Latin America as reasonable checks against a his- 12 tory of coups, corruption, and abuses of power; 13 (5) expresses the belief that the 2016 ref- 14 erendum vote to maintain presidential term limits 15 reflected the legitimate will of the majority of voters 16 in Bolivia; 17 (6) agrees with the Organization of American 18 States Secretary General’s interpretation of the 19 American Convention of Human Rights as not appli- 20 cable to presidential term limits; 21 (7) calls on the Government of Bolivia to re- 22 spect, and where necessary restore, the independence 23 of key electoral and governing bodies and administer 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:00 Apr 11, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\SR35.ATS SR35 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 6 SRES 35 ATS the October 2019 election in adherence with inter- 1 national democratic norms and its own constitu- 2 tional limits on presidential terms; and 3 (8) calls on Latin American democracies to con- 4 tinue to uphold democratic norms and standards 5 among members states. 6 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:00 Apr 11, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\SR35.ATS SR35 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS