This resolution denounces efforts by the Nicolás Maduro regime to hold fraudulent legislative elections and joins members of the international community in rejecting the regime's efforts to carry out those elections. Further, it urges that elections in Venezuela be conducted as soon as possible according to international standards for free, fair, and transparent electoral processes.
Additionally, the resolution calls on the Maduro regime to cease its persecution of Venezuala's independent political parties and release all political prisoners, and it calls for Nicolás Maduro and senior members of his regime to be held accountable for their actions.
[Congressional Bills 116th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H. Res. 1202 Introduced in House (IH)]
<DOC>
116th CONGRESS
2d Session
H. RES. 1202
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.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
October 23, 2020
Ms. Mucarsel-Powell (for herself, Mr. Rooney of Florida, Mr. Sires, Ms.
Wasserman Schultz, Ms. Shalala, Mr. Diaz-Balart, Mr. Soto, Mr.
Hastings, Mr. Crist, Mr. Deutch, Mrs. Murphy of Florida, Mrs. Demings,
Mr. Waltz, and Ms. Frankel) submitted the following resolution; which
was referred to the Committee on Foreign Affairs
_______________________________________________________________________
RESOLUTION
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.
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 21, 2020, at the General Assembly of the Organization of
American States, member states--including The Bahamas, Bolivia, Brazil,
Canada, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, the Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El
Salvador, Guatemala, Haiti, Honduras, Jamaica, Panama, Paraguay, Peru,
St. Lucia, Uruguay, and Venezuela--joined the United States in adopting
a resolution concerning the lack of minimum democratic conditions to
guarantee free, fair, and transparent elections in Venezuela that
rejects ``interference in the functioning of political parties by the
illegitimate Maduro regime'' and urges the call ``as promptly as
possible, of free, fair, transparent, and legitimate presidential
elections'';
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
(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 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, 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 of 2014 (Public Law 113-278), 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 House of Representatives--
(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 and the majority of member states of
the Organization of American States, 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.
<all>
Introduced in House
Introduced in House
Referred to the House Committee on Foreign Affairs.
Referred to the Subcommittee on Western Hemisphere, Civilian Security and Trade.
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