III 

Calendar No. 58 

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, and Mr. CRUZ) submitted 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 

[Strike the preamble and insert the part printed in italic] 

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 Sim ́on Bol ́ıvar as its 

president; 

Whereas Bolivia endured more than a century of fragile governance and instability, with more than 150 changes of 

leadership since it gained independence and at least six 

military coups between 1952 and 1981 alone; 


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•SRES 35 RS 

Whereas, between October 6 and 7, 1970, and again on July 

21, 1978, Bolivia experienced a succession of military 

coups resulting in three different governments over each 

respective period; 

Whereas a transition to civilian democracy occurred in 1982, 

after the ruling military junta handed over power to a civilian government, which managed to maintain control 

despite major economic upheavals and painful market reforms; 

Whereas elected President Gonzalo Sanchez de Lozada and 

his successor Carlos Mesa both resigned in the face of destabilizing protests in 2003 and 2005, respectively; 

Whereas, in 2005, Evo Morales won his first term as president, becoming Bolivia’s first indigenous citizen elected to 

the office; 

Whereas Bolivia’s historically marginalized indigenous peoples 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 ambassador to Bolivia; 

Whereas, in 2009, Bolivians approved, by a vote of more than 

60 percent in a nationwide referendum, a new constituVerDate Sep 11 2014 23:52 Apr 04, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6300 E:\BILLS\SR35.RS SR35

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tion that included a limit of two five-year presidential 

terms; 

Whereas, in 2009, President Morales won reelection to a second 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’ political allies in the Bolivian Constitutional Tribunal affirmed, ruling that the two-term limit in the country’s 

new constitution did not apply because President Morales’ 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 national 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 20 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 Bolivian Constitutional Tribunal lifted constitutional term limits arguing that they violated the candidates’ human 

rights, citing the American Convention of Human Rights, 


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•SRES 35 RS 

adopted at San Jose November 22, 1969, the main 

human rights treaty in the Americas, as the legal foundation 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 reelection 

limits designed to reduce corruption and abuse of power 

given Latin America’s long history of violent and prolonged dictatorship; 

Whereas the Bolivian Constitutional Tribunal’s ruling rendered Bolivia one of a very small number of countries in 

the Western Hemisphere that does not place limits on 

presidential reelection; 

Whereas the Secretary General of the Organization of American 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 Organization 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 exercise 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 


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Whereas the Morales era has seen many social and economic 

gains, but also a weakening and undermining of key 

democratic institutions in order to favor the ruling party: 

Now, therefore, be it 

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 governance 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 

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 civilian government, which managed to maintain control despite major economic upheavals and painful market reforms; 

Whereas elected President Gonzalo Sanchez de Lozada and his 

successor Carlos Mesa both resigned in the face of destabilizing protests in 2003 and 2005, respectively; 

Whereas, in 2005, Evo Morales won his first term as president, 

becoming Bolivia’s first indigenous citizen elected to the office; 

Whereas Bolivia’s historically marginalized indigenous peoples 

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 


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•SRES 35 RS 

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 ambassador 

to Bolivia; 

Whereas, in 2009, Bolivians approved, by a vote of more than 

60 percent in a nationwide referendum, a new constitution 

that included a limit of two five-year presidential terms; 

Whereas, in 2009, President Morales won reelection to a second 

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’ political allies in the Bolivian Constitutional Tribunal affirmed, ruling that the two-term limit in the country’s new 

constitution did not apply because President Morales’ 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 national 

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 


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•SRES 35 RS 

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 Bolivian 

Constitutional Tribunal lifted constitutional term limits 

arguing that they violated the candidates’ human rights, 

citing the American Convention of Human Rights, adopted at San Jose November 22, 1969, the main human rights 

treaty in the Americas, as the legal foundation 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 reelection limits 

designed to reduce corruption and abuse of power given 

Latin America’s long history of violent and prolonged dictatorship; 

Whereas the Bolivian Constitutional Tribunal’s ruling rendered Bolivia one of a very small number of countries in 

the Western Hemisphere that does not place limits on presidential reelection; 

Whereas the Secretary General of the Organization of American 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.’’; 


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•SRES 35 RS 

Whereas, in March 2018, a report commissioned by the Organization 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 exercise 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 

democratic institutions in order to favor the ruling party: 

Now, therefore, be it 

1 Resolved, That the Senate— 

2 (1) supports the important transitions to de3 mocracy and the regular peaceful transfers of power 

4 through elections that have taken place in the ma5 jority of Latin American and Caribbean countries in 

6 recent decades; 

7 (2) recognizes the historic significance of Boliv8 ia’s 2005 election; 

9 (3) expresses concern for efforts to circumvent 

10 presidential term limits in the Bolivian constitution; 

11 (4) supports presidential term limits prevalent 

12 in Latin America as reasonable checks against a his13 tory of coups, corruption, and abuses of power; 


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1 (5) expresses the belief that the 2016 ref2 erendum vote to maintain presidential term limits 

3 reflected the legitimate will of the majority of voters 

4 in Bolivia; 

5 (6) agrees with the Organization of American 

6 States Secretary General’s interpretation of the 

7 American Convention of Human Rights as not appli8 cable to presidential term limits; 

9 (7) calls on the Government of Bolivia to re10 spect, and where necessary restore, the independence 

11 of key electoral and governing bodies and administer 

12 the October 2019 election in adherence with inter13 national democratic norms and its own constitu14 tional limits on presidential terms; and 

15 (8) calls on Latin American democracies to con16 tinue to uphold democratic norms and standards 

17 among members states. 


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Calendar No. 58 

116TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. RES. 35 

RESOLUTION 

Supporting democratic principles and standards in 

Bolivia and throughout Latin America. 

APRIL 4, 2019 

Reported without amendment and with an amendment to 

the preamble 


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