III 

115TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. RES. 35 

Expressing profound concern about the ongoing political, economic, social 

and humanitarian crisis in Venezuela, urging the release of political 

prisoners, and calling for respect of constitutional and democratic processes, including free and fair elections. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

FEBRUARY 1, 2017 

Mr. CARDIN (for himself, Mr. RUBIO, Mr. DURBIN, Mr. COTTON, Mr. MENENDEZ, Mr. BLUNT, Mr. NELSON, Mr. GARDNER, Mr. KAINE, and Mr. 

PERDUE) submitted the following resolution; which was referred to the 

Committee on Foreign Relations 

FEBRUARY 28, 2017 

Committee discharged; considered and agreed to 

RESOLUTION 

Expressing profound concern about the ongoing political, economic, social and humanitarian crisis in Venezuela, urging the release of political prisoners, and calling for 

respect of constitutional and democratic processes, including free and fair elections. 

Whereas the deterioration of basic governance and the economic crisis in Venezuela have led to an unprecedented 

humanitarian situation in which people are suffering 

from severe shortages of essential medicines and basic 

food products; 


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Whereas Venezuela lacks more than 80 percent of the basic 

medical supplies and equipment needed to treat its population, including medicine to treat chronic illnesses and 

cancer as well as basic antibiotics, and 85 percent of 

pharmacies are at risk of bankruptcy, according to the 

Venezuelan Pharmaceutical Federation; 

Whereas, despite the massive shortages of basic foodstuffs 

and essential medicines, President of Venezuela Nicolas 

Maduro has rejected repeated requests from civil society 

organizations to bring humanitarian aid into the country; 

Whereas the International Monetary Fund assesses that, in 

Venezuela, gross domestic product will contract 10 percent and inflation will exceed 700 percent in 2016, accelerating to over 1,600 percent in 2017, the worst anticipated growth and inflation performance in the world; 

Whereas Venezuela’s political, economic, and humanitarian 

crisis is fueling social tensions that are resulting in growing incidents of public unrest, looting, violence among 

citizens, and an exodus of Venezuelans abroad; 

Whereas Caracas continues to have the highest per capita 

homicide rate in the world at 120 per 100,000 citizens, 

according to the United Nations Office on Drug and 

Crime; 

Whereas the deterioration of governance in Venezuela has 

been exacerbated by widespread public corruption and the 

involvement of public officials in illicit narcotics trafficking and related money laundering; 

Whereas, on August 1, 2016, General Nestor Reverol, Venezuela’s current Minister of Interior and former National 

Guard commander, was indicted in the United States for 


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participating in an international cocaine trafficking conspiracy; 

Whereas, on November 18, 2016, Franqui Francisco Flores 

de Freitas and Efrain Antonio Campo Flores, nephews of 

President Maduro and Venezuelan First Lady Cilia Flores, were convicted by a United States Federal jury on 

charges of conspiring to import cocaine into the United 

States; 

Whereas international and domestic human rights groups, 

such as Venezuelan organization Foro Penal, recognize 

more than 100 political prisoners in Venezuela, including 

opposition leader and former Chacao mayor Leopoldo 

Lopez, Judge Maria Lourdes Afiuni, Caracas Mayor Antonio Ledezma, and former San Cristobal mayor Daniel 

Ceballos; 

Whereas the 1999 Constitution of the Bolivarian Republic of 

Venezuela serves as the foundation for political processes 

in Venezuela; 

Whereas, in December 2015, the people of Venezuela elected 

the opposition coalition (Mesa de Unidad Democra`tica) to 

a two-thirds majority in the unicameral National Assembly, with 112 out of the 167 seats; 

Whereas, in late December 2015, the outgoing National Assembly confirmed to the Supreme Court of Venezuela 

magistrates politically aligned with the Maduro Administration and, thereafter, the Supreme Court blocked four 

legislators, including 3 opposition legislators, from taking 

office; 

Whereas, during the first year of the new legislature, the Supreme Court has repeatedly overturned legislation passed 

by the democratically elected National Assembly; 


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Whereas, in 2016, President Maduro has utilized emergency 

and legislative decree powers to bypass the National Assembly, which, alongside the actions of the Supreme 

Court, have severely undermined the principles of separation of powers in Venezuela; 

Whereas, in May 2016, Organization of American States Secretary General Luis Almagro presented a 132-page report 

outlining grave alterations of the democratic order in 

Venezuela and invoked Article 20 of the Inter-American 

Democratic Charter, which calls on the OAS Permanent 

Council ‘‘to undertake a collective assessment of the situation’’; 

Whereas, in late October 2016, Venezuela’s state courts and 

National Electoral Council, which are comprised of political allies of President Maduro, halted efforts to hold a 

referendum pursuant to provisions of the Venezuelan constitution to recall President Maduro, thereby denying the 

Venezuelan people the ability to pursue a democratic solution to Venezuela’s crisis; and 

Whereas, in November 2016, sectors of the opposition and 

the Government of Venezuela initiated a dialogue, facilitated by the Vatican, in an effort to pursue a negotiated 

solution to the country’s political, economic, social, and 

humanitarian crisis: Now, therefore, be it 

1 Resolved, That the Senate— 

2 (1) expresses its profound concern about wide3 spread shortages of essential medicines and basic 

4 food products faced by the people of Venezuela, and 

5 urges President Maduro to permit the delivery of 

6 humanitarian assistance; 


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SRES 35 ATS 

1 (2) calls on the Government of Venezuela to im2 mediately release all political prisoners and to re3 spect internationally recognized human rights; 

4 (3) supports meaningful efforts towards a dia5 logue that leads to respect for Venezuela’s constitu6 tional mechanisms and resolves the country’s polit7 ical, economic, social, and humanitarian crisis; 

8 (4) affirms its support for OAS Secretary Gen9 eral Almagro’s invocation of Article 20 of the Inter10 American Democratic Charter and urges the OAS 

11 Permanent Council, which represents all of the orga12 nization’s member states, to undertake a collective 

13 assessment of the constitutional and democratic 

14 order in Venezuela; 

15 (5) calls on the Government of Venezuela to en16 sure the neutrality and professionalism of all secu17 rity forces and to respect the Venezuelan people’s 

18 rights to freedom of expression and assembly; 

19 (6) calls on the Government of Venezuela to 

20 halt its efforts to undermine the principle of separa21 tion of powers, its circumvention of the democrat22 ically elected legislature, and its subjugation of judi23 cial independence; 

24 (7) stresses the urgency of strengthening the 

25 rule of law and increasing efforts to combat impuVerDate Sep 11 2014 01:15 Mar 01, 2017 Jkt 069200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\SR35.ATS SR35

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1 nity and public corruption in Venezuela, which has 

2 bankrupted a resource-rich country, fuels rising so3 cial tensions, and contributes to elevated levels of 

4 crime and violence; and 

5 (8) urges the President of the United States to 

6 provide full support for OAS efforts in favor of con7 stitutional and democratic solutions to the political 

8 impasse, and to instruct appropriate Federal agen9 cies to hold officials of the Government of Venezuela 

10 accountable for violations of United States law and 

11 abuses of internationally recognized human rights. 

Æ 


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